


Emerald and Onyx

by The_Dragon_Em



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Age Difference, Ambiguous Relationships, Angst, Awkward Crush, Bisexual Female Character, Bisexual Male Character, College, Demisexuality, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fantasizing, Feelings, First Dates, First Kiss, First Time, Friends to Lovers, Gohan's Anger Issues, Hermaphrodites, High School, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Long, Miscommunication, NaNoWriMo, Oblivious, Other, Saiyan Anatomy, Saiyan Instinct, Saiyan Pride, Siblings, Slow Burn, Tails, Tattoos, Teenagers, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-01
Updated: 2018-11-30
Packaged: 2019-08-03 12:52:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 49,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16326599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Dragon_Em/pseuds/The_Dragon_Em
Summary: HanP for NaNoWriMo 2018. A chapter a day for thirty days. Let's see how weird this gets when I'm desperate for my word count.-----------Gohan jumps slightly in embarrassment, watching his sensei for a long moment before slowly daring to bring up what's got him so fretful. "Have you ever liked anyone, Piccolo?"The Namekian huffs in amusement. "I like you, kid." He supposes there are other people that might qualify as friends, but the only one he ever thinks of without having to really put his mind to it is Gohan.





	1. The Lonely Hero

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [I Could Be Your First](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16218515) by [Panlock](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Panlock/pseuds/Panlock). 



> Panlock's I Could Be Your First is awesome, and my go-to re-read when I need a muse boost.

It had been a year to the day since his father had died. The weight of that loss - of the feeling that maybe somehow he could have prevented it - still weighed heavily on Gohan. A bout of insomnia had him up far past the time his mother had sent him to bed, and the muscular twelve-year-old slipped easily out the window. Not that going out the front door would have been much more of a challenge; his mother was so distracted with his three-month-old baby brother that he could have snuck by her easily.

His window swaying quietly in the breeze, Gohan settled in under a tree and tried to think of anything that might make him feel less alone. He still didn't understand why his father had chosen to stay away, a choice that stung as badly as the repetitive notion that all this was somehow Gohan's fault. With a sigh, the not-quite teenage warrior leaned his back against the tree with one knee pulled up to his chest. The strongest fighter on Earth tried to keep his ki under control so as not to alarm any of the Z-Fighters into thinking there was anything wrong besides his angst, but it was still as unsteady as a stormy sea.

Lost in his own thoughts, Gohan didn't notice the arrival that should have immediately caught his senses. Instead, his eyes pressed closed as he tried - not for the first time - to sort out his own thoughts.

* * *

There was no question, after knowing him for half a lifetime, that Piccolo loved the kid. It didn't seem quite right to call the feeling paternal or brotherly, but the Namekian wasn't at all sure how to label it.  _Probably because I'm bad at labels of that sort in general_. He was, however, definitely very in tune with his pupil - both mentally and when it came to his ki - and so he noticed when the young demi-Saiyan's energies spiraled into an uncontrolled jumble that only kept from threatening anything around him because Gohan was managing to keep his ki mostly suppressed. It was honestly impressive that he could manage to keep his ki  _level_  under control when he was having so much trouble managing the ki itself.

His trip from the Lookout to the Son house was quick and silent, and he set down with effortless grace in the backyard. There was Gohan, looking like a painting of loneliness and loss under a tree ... and completely oblivious to Piccolo's arrival. For a long moment Piccolo stood there in the dark, and then he cleared his throat to get his student's attention. Gohan jumped, his face reddening in embarrassment at getting snuck up on, and then stood to greet his sensei.

"Mr. Piccolo, what are you doing here this late?" The boy's forefinger and thumb slide around Piccolo's little finger, the smallest bit of contact out of affection and a need for comfort. Piccolo sees no need to deny this,  _especially_ since Gohan is obviously distressed. Even now, though, Piccolo won't admit that he enjoys the small affectionate gestures they share nor that he is more tolerant of the rare hug than he lets on. These are only liberties he allows the kid, and on the uncommon occasion that they are observed Piccolo's defensively flashed fangs are generally enough to prevent comment. No glare or sneer is enough to prevent the others from laughingly commenting on how Gohan is like a son to him - which is still just  _not true_ and never will be despite the fact that Piccolo can't properly define their relationship. He's pretty sure everyone forgets he's only four years older than Gohan.

Everyone except Gohan, that is.

"I don't sleep," the Namekian answered gruffly. "You're the one who's supposed to be in bed. Of course, I doubt you're able to sleep right now." Even now that he'd noticed Piccolo, Gohan's ki was showing clear signs of barely contained distress.

"Yeah," Gohan said, highly embarrassed but unsurprised by how easily Piccolo reads him. He had been surprised when he was younger and learned that Piccolo was less than twice his age, and every year it seemed like they were closer together. Kids together, despite the fact that Piccolo didn't know how to act like one. Except now Gohan was almost a teenager, and Piccolo was all of sixteen. That four-year gap was constantly shrinking. Blushing and not meeting his teacher's eye, he apologetically admitted, "I was trying to keep my ki under control so no one would sense me and think there was some new ... something."

"You were doing a good job of keeping it down, but something's definitely bothering you." This is more words than Piccolo likes to use, and it would be practically unheard of for him to do so, except ...  _this is Gohan_. "Is it one of those things where talking is going to help?"

Gohan's tight smile isn't forced, but he can't conjure up a _real_ smile. No matter how upset he is, the demi-Saiyan is well aware that Piccolo wouldn't make that offer to somebody else ... and the powerful pre-teen wouldn't burden his first and closest friend if he didn't know that the Namekian actually means it. "It's been a year, Mr. Piccolo. I feel like I'm the only one who even noticed."

Piccolo isn't really sure how to respond to that, because he surely hasn't been paying close enough to any sort of calendar to know it's been exactly one year since Goku died and chose to stay dead. Maybe if he'd been paying attention he could have anticipated Gohan's needs and been here before the boy got to the point of struggling with his grief alone in the dead of night. Of course, it's been a year since more than just Goku's death. It's been a year since Gohan defeated Cell, it's been a year since the kid's buried rage came out when he hit Super Saiyan 2, and it's been a year since Goku chose to  _stay_ dead. Awkwardly affectionate, Piccolo ruffles the kid's hair with a clawed hand as he tries to put the words he needs into an intelligible string.

"They're moving on after Cell, trying to respect your father's wishes," Piccolo started gruffly. This is one part of their relationship where he  _does_ know what's going on; he offers advice and comfort as well he can, teaches and trains the boy. There was no need to understand feelings in all of this, not past the fact that they're _close_. "I suppose it's different for you, though. You lost your father." Not an experience Piccolo could properly relate to, not in the same way, and he doubted pointing out that Gohan had gotten his revenge was going to help.

"I didn't just  _lose_ him!" Gohan gasped out, tears gathering in those dark eyes. "I wasn't fast enough - I couldn't save him! If I'd been able to save him then he wouldn't have been  _able_ to make the stupid decision to - to  _leave_ us!"

The dam is barely holding back the kid's tears, and Piccolo decides that rare action is called for. He's always awkward at this, maybe in part because he so rarely allows it to happen and even less frequently initiates it. Quietly, he stretches out his long arms and wraps them gently around the smaller body, one hand on the back of his head and the other in the middle of his back as he pulled the boy close in a stiff hug. He's always surprised when this emphasizes how much smaller than him the kid is. Here he was, Earth's strongest defender, and Piccolo could easily pick him up in one arm and carry him like a child.

But he's not a child anymore, not really. With everything he's seen and done over the last eight years that they've known each other, and with the fact that he's maturing naturally as well, it's hard to say he's a  _little boy_ as his mother still tries to claim. He's not a man yet, but he's headed in that direction ... and at a much more natural, leisurely pace than what Piccolo went through.

That doesn't stop him from crying in the safety of Piccolo's arms, struggling to keep quiet as he does so. His powerful hands tangle in the front of his mentor's gi top even as his tears darken the purple fabric. The Namekian fumbles through the process of soothing the demi-Saiyan, stroking his raven feather hair while continuing to hold him close. As much as he stiffened and resisted this sort of contact, there was a small part of his brain that enjoyed letting out hints of this part of himself that he only shared with Gohan, perfectly innocent while still being intimate.  _Close_. They understood each other, past the awkwardness and the fumbling and Piccolo's waspishness. They knew each other better than anyone else.

Piccolo let Gohan take comfort in his stiff, awkward hug until the kid pulled back and wiped his red-rimmed eyes. Gohan didn't meet the taller man's gaze as he tried to put himself back together, and Piccolo respected his desire for a moment's privacy. They were vastly different on the surface, but two people couldn't spend as much time together as they had without developing similarities. It didn't take long for Gohan to have himself back under control.

"Sometimes I think it would be easier if I could disappear into the wilderness for another year or two," Gohan joked, but there was sincerity behind the levity. The first year they'd known each other had definitely been a straightforward time.

"Your mother might actually hunt me down if I stole you away again, but we should start training regularly again. It'll help you clear that over-stuffed head of yours. And you haven't been meditating regularly, either, have you."

Gohan ducked in embarrassment, then nodded shyly. "You're right. Of course you're right. I need to focus and get  _centered_ again, instead of sitting around every day feeling so -  _guilty_."

"You have nothing to feel guilty about," Piccolo sighed. He should have been helping Gohan through this back when it happened, but he was bad at emotions and the kid hadn't asked for help ... not that he was surprised that Gohan had tried to keep things bottled up. "Right now you need to get to sleep, and tomorrow we can work out regular time for training." He'd be having Gohan meditate with him at least at first, and he vaguely wondered if he'd be able to manage to arrange to meditate nightly with his student.

"Yeah - all right," Gohan said with a sigh. "Do you have to leave right away?"

Hesitation. "No. How'd you get out without the harpy noticing?"

"I went out my window," the kid said with a sly smile. Expecting Piccolo to follow, Gohan darted around the side of the building to where a window was swinging free, leading into a dark room. "Come on," he said, hopping easily up and sliding into the window without any difficulty. Piccolo hesitated, judging the size of the window against his own tall, broad-shouldered frame, then slid into the window after the boy.

"To bed," the Namekian insisted gruffly. He focused on the junction of the wall and ceiling as his student changed, then looked back down as the demi-Saiyan started shuffling into his bed. Gently, the tall green man leaned down and tugged the blanket up under Gohan's chin, smoothing it out with taloned hands. This was another of those acts of innocent intimacy, although it felt a little strange to Piccolo.  _Because Gohan isn't a child_. Still, he hoped that he'd find some comfort in the action.

Moving to the other side of the room, Piccolo settled into padmasana. The demi-Saiyan's eyes were on him, and older of the pair gave a tiny, tight smile. "I'll stay until you fall asleep."


	2. A New Routine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Piccolo and Chi-Chi argue about how Gohan should be spending his time.

He woke up alone in his room, not surprised that Piccolo had left at some point after he'd fallen asleep. After all, that was what he'd said he was going to do - stay until Gohan fell asleep. For a long moment, the pre-teen warrior laid in bed, hoping that what he and Piccolo had talked about last night would actually  _help_ , because he was so tired of hurting and feeling guilty all the time. Then he realized that he was hearing voices downstairs, and he silently crept out of bed and stopped on the stairs to listen.

"The boy's not happy." He could hear the bared fangs as his best friend clearly spoke to his mother. "He blames himself for his father. He needs to get himself back in a place of calm and centeredness. Studying all hours of the day isn't going to help!"

"He needs to keep up with his studies," Chi-Chi hissed. "He's going to be a scholar, and more fighting isn't going to help him with his father's death!"

"Not fighting, training. Martial arts and meditation. He needs to regain balance in his life and find a place where he's not - where he actually has space to deal with the last year." Gohan could tell that Piccolo was trying to convince his mother while keeping his confidence as much as possible - something that made his chest tighten oddly. Should he go down and help ...? ' _Stay where you are_ _kid_ ,' came the telepathic reply, so accurate that Gohan had to wonder if Piccolo was reading his mind or just knew him that well. ' _I've got her thinking about this_.' "Besides, he's half-Saiyan. Even you can't deny that increased physical activity will help level him out."

There was a long pause, and Gohan was starting to think despite Piccolo's confidence the only reason that his mother wasn't screaming at the top of her lungs was a desire not to wake Goten. Her next harshly whispered words only confirmed the notion for her eldest son. "Why do you have to keep pushing into his life? It's bad enough you kidnapped him, kept him from me for a  _year_ , but you keep coming back! Why can't you just stay away from my baby?"

Piccolo, to his credit, let her words wash over him. Knowing - or at least suspecting - that Gohan was listening in, he lowered his voice a little more, his tone serious. Rare for him, the slightest hint of passion pushed through. "He was my first friend, Chi-Chi - and I was his. I care about him. I'd do anything to keep him safe and whole and happy. We might not have gotten where we are in the most  _conventional_ way, but never doubt that I have his best interests at heart  _even above my own_. I know the boy. Studying all the time gives him too much time to think, and don't give me any bullshit about it keeping his mind busy. You and I both know he's smart enough that his schoolwork is a minor distraction at best."

There was another pause, further hesitation. Was his mother trying to steady herself, to keep calm, or was she actually listening to Piccolo? Quietly, urgently, Gohan made his way down a couple more stairs. He doesn't dare get any closer than that, and it occurs to him belatedly that the reason Piccolo knows he's on the stairs is because he can hear the younger boy creeping closer. At least his mother doesn't have Namekian hearing; he'd never get away with anything.

Finally, Chi-Chi sighs in annoyed defeat. "We might as well try it. I'm not blind, you know; I know he's been taking Goku's death hard, and I think he feels abandoned, too." The way she swallows hard makes Gohan think his mother is feeling abandoned as well. "What did you have in mind?"

"Training three days a week, I would prefer first thing in the morning for three or four hours. Then meditation every night; between dinner and bedtime should work fine. We can do that part up in his room so I would only be actually taking him out of the house for training." Which was necessary, assuming that Chi-Chi wanted to continue to have a house.

She balks again; that's not exactly the least expected reaction, but Piccolo patiently for her to get over her reaction to how much time this is going to take up or whatever other objection she's suddenly found. "You want to take him for twelve hours a week -!"

"Three mornings a week is not going to affect his studies in the slightest." Piccolo actually manages not sneer, but it's a close thing. "It will be good for him, and it's not like he'll be in any danger. There is a reason your idiot husband put all his hopes on Gohan." The Namekian had his own anger to deal with on that front; Gohan should never have been put in that position, and Goku hadn't thought twice about pushing his pacifistic eleven-year-old  _child_ into battling the biggest threat that the Earth had ever known. "There's nothing on this planet that can threaten him physically, his studies won't be impacted, and hopefully this will do him a world of good when it comes to getting balanced mentally and spiritually." Maybe they could even work on Gohan's rather extreme backburner rage issues. A small part of Piccolo worries that those are at least partially his fault, but mostly he doesn't want to see Gohan lose himself like that again.

She gritted her teeth. "Fine. Three days a week."

Piccolo can't help a tiny smirk as she surrenders. He's used up his ration of words for the next week or two, but he's gotten what he wanted. "You can come down now, kid."

Gohan bounds down the last of the stairs and beams at Piccolo. He wants this time together and is willing to try anything that his mentor thinks might help him get through his personal hell. Although the majority of his current happiness is aimed at the Namekian, he hugs his mother because two hugs in less than twelve hours are probably more than Piccolo can handle.

"It's rude to eavesdrop," Chi-Chi said without any bite in her tone as she pulls her firstborn close. She doesn't like this idea, but she can't actually argue with what Piccolo is saying. "I'll have breakfast for you in a moment, and today you're going to go train with Mr. Piccolo."

His face lights up and he hurries to the table to wait. As a teenage demi-Saiyan boy, his appetite is ridiculous. This morning he's excited by the fact he's going off to train with his best friend to boot. The promised meal appears quickly, Chi-Chi long ago having mastered the art of feeding Saiyans, and he dug in with carefully trained table manners that it was impressive he could maintain at that speed. Once done, he popped up with the clear intention of racing out the door as quickly as possible ... still in his pajamas.

"Get a gi on, kid," Piccolo said in tightly held amusement. "You  _do_ still have one?" The last he'd been around Gohan in a gi, it had been torn halfway off the boy.

Gohan stuttered to a stop, embarrassment etched on his face. "No, I haven't been training over the last year." He looked abashed about that, but he knew better than to like to his sensei about it.

"Which do you want?"

A bright smile flashed across his face, then fell away. He wanted Piccolo's gi, but right now with his father  _dead_ and with it being  _all his fault_ , it just seemed disrespectful ... and never mind that Gohan had chosen Piccolo's gi over his father's in front of the man. "Can I have the one you gave me when I was little - like Dad's, but with your symbol?"

Piccolo watched all that emotion work over Gohan's face and could clearly  _see_ him thinking. He respected the choice he made. It was a nostalgic one, one that acknowledged Piccolo and Goku at the same time. For all that he was used to seeing the kid in his own gi, he wasn't going to get upset with him for wanting to honor his father. A moment later and the Namekian's Clothes Beam had replaced the pajamas with the requested gi, and the tall green man reached out to ruffle that dark hair with his large hand. "Time to go. I'm sure your mother wants you back for lunch."


	3. The Passage of Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One year later ...

NGohan stilled in midair, panting, his gi top shredded and the knee ripped out of his left pant leg. It was time for another new gi, but he dismissed that idle thought as quickly as it came up. As Piccolo had guessed, their thrice weekly training sessions had been doing the now-teenaged demi-Saiyan worlds of good, although not as much as their nightly shared meditation. It felt a little odd to have Piccolo with him in his bedroom every night, Gohan in the lotus position on his bed with his mentor floating across the small room from him ... but it was a good weird. He didn't know exactly how to describe it, but Gohan very much looked forward to going up to his room after dinner every night to spend some peaceful time with his sensei. Sometimes they meditated and that was it, and sometimes they talked ... they talked through so many things, always about what Gohan was going through and what was going on in his head.

While he wished that sometimes Piccolo would share as well, he understood his master's reticence and was more than willing to let the oh so grown-up teenager keep his peace.

It had been a full year since Gohan had started his training routine with Piccolo, and he could feel himself growing stronger ... but that was slow, not the pushed, hurried, body-ravaging pace that his father set. Instead, it was gentle, happening naturally as his teacher trained him in increased skill and precision, in being a  _better_ fighter, a more adept martial artist. They were focusing on finesse to the point that Gohan actually looked slimmer than he had two years before because he'd gained height without significantly adding muscle mass. Even with Gohan taller, Piccolo still dwarfed him. His head still barely reached the base of the Namekian's breastbone.

The dust cleared between them and for a moment all was cleared. Then Piccolo shifted towards a more casual stance and rewarded Gohan with one of those private little smiles he'd never seen his mentor offer anyone else. "Good job, kid. You're making a lot of progress." They both settled onto the top of a nearby plateau, Piccolo's taloned hand resting briefly on his student's shoulder. "Next time we're going to focus on flexibility a bit more." He didn't have to say  _again_ that all the muscle in the world was useless if it prevented movement.

Piccolo settled into padmasana and Gohan sat on the rock beside him with his feet dangling over the edge. In addition to training and meditation, they did a lot of  _talking_ \- or, rather, Gohan talked while Piccolo listened and did his best to ask just the right loaded questions to help Gohan work through more and more of the tangled web of emotions that had grown out of his father's death and his encounter with Cell.

There was a long silence, and this time Piccolo spoke first. "It's been two years, now." He'd been paying attention to a calendar this time because he'd rather not find the person he's closest to in the whole world trying to contain his distress in the middle of the night again. He thinks Gohan is improving in more than just his martial arts technique, but he's not always the best judge of such things.

The kid froze before he nodded in needless confirmation of Piccolo's accounting of the date. His chest tightened; he wanted all those feelings that had built up and built up until Piccolo had come to his emotional rescue last year to be  _gone_ , but all of it was still there. He was just handling it better, or at least he hoped he was. "I still feel guilty about it," he admitted, looking out at the dusty yellow-brown landscape. His mentor, his  _best friend_ , was waiting silently for him to continue. He never pushed past the smallest nudges, letting Gohan find his own way through his thoughts. "If I'd been faster, more focused -  _anything_! There had to be some way for me to have defeated Cell before he tried to self-destruct."

That was something they'd been stuck on. It didn't come up every time. Sometimes they didn't talk about anything more significant than Gohan's schoolwork. Still, over the last year Piccolo had gotten more than enough time to think about his mentee's unwarranted guilt, and he thought that it might actually be time to try bringing up a point of pure fact that he had been rolling around for a while. He wasn't sure how Gohan would react. Gently, his voice deep and gravelly and as comforting as he could make it, Piccolo asked, "What if your father hadn't given Cell that senzu bean?"

Gohan froze. His hands balled into tight, perfectly formed fists. His dark eyes were wide and his lips parted slightly, his back rigid. Piccolo forced himself to wait, to hold back his urge to soothe away the boy's pain. Simply helping him feel better in a moment wasn't the right thing; no, he needed to help fix the emotional mess that fighting Cell had created. He was good at holding perfectly still, but at the moment it seemed difficult. He held his breath, waiting for his pupil to have some sort of real reaction, something more than shock ...

Finally, the kid's mouth snapped closed and he swallowed hard. Gohan closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, trying to steady himself. Piccolo couldn't help but be proud of him for holding it together this well; if he'd asked that question a year ago the response would have been nowhere near this controlled. "I -" He broke off, flustered and confused. The Namekian continued to give him time, his hand twitching on his knee as he stopped himself from reaching out to the kid. Gohan had to get this out on his own, and finally, he finished his thought in a small voice. "I hadn't thought about that."

Still, Piccolo waited. He couldn't push the kid into any conclusions; he had to reach them on his own. As much as the Namekian would love to simply take away his first friend's pain, Gohan needed to find his own way through this. He sometimes wondered how the demi-Saiyan managed to drag even sporadic affection out of him, but somehow he managed it ... and  _only_ him.

The silence was longer this time but finally, Gohan shared his thoughts. "I - think there's a good chance that I could have beat Cell if he hadn't had the senzu.  _Before_ Dad got killed.  _Why would he do that_?"

The tall figure sighed, allowing himself to lift his hand and rest it on the boy's shoulder again. "I can guess, but that's all it would be." He paused, and Gohan nodded silently. Piccolo continued, "Your father is a Saiyan. He loved to fight, loved a challenge, and he might have wanted to give you what  _he_ would want in your situation. I've seen both your father and Vegeta make poor strategic choices as they chase fights against the strongest possible opponent. You don't have the same desire to prove yourself that they do, but I think that Goku might have intended it as a paternal gesture."

"But he  _knows_ I don't like to fight!" He paused, turning to look at Piccolo. "Doesn't he?"

That was the real question, wasn't it? "I don't know, kid. But it's not your fault that your father gave Cell a senzu any more than it's your fault that he sent you out to fight. It's not your fault your father  _chose_ to use Instant Transmission to remove Cell when he went to self-destruct. All that you're responsible is your own actions."

He stopped there. That was what he really wanted to get through to Gohan about, although he was fairly certain that he was going to need to drive the point home over and over before Gohan even started to truly accept that he wasn't to blame for his father's death. He hoped the kid was making progress, and certainly, it hadn't been as bad again as it had been a year ago, but only time would tell.

"I - I still don't feel like I did enough." There were tears at the corners of his eyes again, and Gohan's gaze turned back out at the view before them. At the same time, he shifted slightly as if trying to increase the contact between his shoulder and Piccolo's palm. The Namekian let him, moving slightly in response and tightening his grip slightly so that the sharp tips of his dark claws lightly kissed the kid's skin.

"Objectively, tell me what you  _did_ do, starting with when your father sent you out to fight Cell."

Gohan took a deep, shaky breath. "Well, I went out to face him, and Dad - Dad gave him the senzu bean. So he was back to full strength, and we fought, but I couldn't beat him, not without - I  _told_ him what would happen if I got mad, but he just got excited about that, and he made the Cell Juniors, and he killed Sixteen, and I -" The boy paused, swallowing hard. "I didn't take it well. I got the upper hand, and then that's when Cell went to self-destruct." There was more. Piccolo had been there. "That was  _after_ Dad told me to kill him! If I'd just listened -"

There was always more ways for him to blame himself. "Kid, you're missing the point. It was only  _after_ you had the upper hand that Cell decided to self-destruct. Maybe you could have killed him in time if you'd been more  _controlled_ , maybe not, but what happened is you were winning and so Cell decided not to fight fair. Then your father did what he always does and did what had to be done to save everyone." Piccolo refrained from mentioning that Goku had done the  _same damn thing_ , or close enough to it, when Raditz had kidnapped Gohan. "Then he chose on his own to stay dead. No one else made that choice for him. No one else could, or he would have been dragged back from Other World kicking and screaming."

This wasn't going to be some easy fix, but the way that Gohan's shoulders sagged under his hand gave Piccolo some hope that this was finally sinking in. The anger and guilt weren't healthy for the kid to be carrying around, and as he had for so long Piccolo only wanted what was best for his student. He could almost see where the jokes about him being Gohan's other dad came from, even if they were dead wrong.

"I still feel like I should have done more," Gohan sighed helplessly.

"You saved the world, kid. No one could ask for more than that." Gently, careful of his claws, Piccolo squeezed the boy's shoulder, then stood up. "Come on. Let's get you home before your mother starts blaming me for your grades slipping." He snorted. "As if that's likely."

Gohan's smile was a little weak, but he seemed happier, maybe. Climbing to his feet, he brushed off his ruined gi pants. "Fix this for me? You know how much Mom hates it when I come home looking like I was actually fighting."

Piccolo chuckled gently and Clothes Beamed a fresh gi for the kid. "I'll see you tonight."

He watched as the demi-Saiyan launched himself off of the cliff and headed towards home. All he wanted out of this was for Gohan to pull himself together ... but privately he could admit to himself that he loved how much time he was spending with his friend. He'd missed this more than he had ever admitted to himself.


	4. Growing Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gohan and Piccolo talk about growing up, attraction, and public school.

Some days were better than others, but overall Gohan was improving. There were still no more outbursts like the one on the day that had marked the one year anniversary of his father's death, and he seemed to be letting go of his guilt over the whole mess as well. _The kid seems to finally be accepting that his father made his own choices and that he's not responsible for what Goku did._ He still hadn't let go of his recriminations over his own actions, but that was the hard part, wasn't it?

Goten was recently two, and at the moment Piccolo found himself leaning against the bathroom doorway of the Son house, arms crossed as he watched his pupil elbow deep in bathwater and trying to both wrangle and clean the toddler at the same time. It was disturbing how much Goten resembled his father, almost enough to make Piccolo entertain notions of reincarnation. Of course, this situation wasn't at all like that of his own birth, no matter how much the small child looked like his father.

"We're almost done," Gohan promised awkwardly, deftly soaping the toddler's starburst of wild black locks. He was having some trouble keeping the child in the bathwater, but it was clear this wasn't the first time that the boy had done this. It was, however, the first time that it had cut into the time when they were supposed to be upstairs meditating, much to Piccolo's discontent.

Still, good to Gohan's word he has the toddler out and the tub draining within minutes. He dries him efficiently - impressive, given how much the tyke is squirming - but before he can go to dress Goten Piccolo impatiently Clothes Beams a pair of baby blue footie pajamas on him. They're soft and dotted with dragon balls, and Gohan smiles in amusement.

"These are really cute, Mr. Piccolo. Let me get him to Mom and we can go upstairs." The teenager lifts his younger brother onto his hip effortlessly and goes off to find his mother; he returns quickly and jerks his head toward the stairs to indicate Piccolo should follow him.

They settle quickly into their usual places in Gohan's room, the kid in lotus position on his bed while Piccolo levitates across the tight space from him. Most nights they settle straight into meditating, but tonight Gohan is restless, whatever's on his mind translating into fidgeting and squirming instead of mental and physical stillness. Finally, Piccolo clears his throat, indicating that his protege might as well come out with whatever it is.

Gohan jumps slightly in embarrassment, watching his sensei for a long moment before slowly daring to bring up what's got him so fretful. "Have you ever liked anyone, Piccolo?"

The Namekian huffs in amusement. "I like you, kid." He supposes there are other people that might qualify as friends, but the only one he ever thinks of without having to really put his mind to it is Gohan.

The teen blushes and clears his throat, looking anywhere but at his mentor. Why did that answer make him feel so  _strange_? "Not like that. I mean, uh -  _romantically_."

Oh. "No, I haven't." He pauses, looking at the kid out of the corner of his eye and trying to figure out why the hell Gohan is asking him this. Finally, he decides to just put the awkward question out there. "Why?"

That blush redoubles its efforts to turn Gohan's whole face crimson. "I mean, I know you're - that Namekians are asexual, but sex and romantic love aren't the same thing and - I don't know, recently whenever we happen to be around a girl my age Mom makes these little  _comments_ like I'm supposed to like them even though I don't really know them. I've never liked anyone that way. I don't even know what it's supposed to be like! All the Z Fighter couples are a little ... odd." He shrugged helplessly. "I guess you're just the only one I felt comfortable asking about this, but ... that was probably a bad idea ..."

Piccolo decides to refrain from pointing out that reproducing asexually and actually  _being asexual_  aren't the same thing. It's a moot point anyway since Piccolo has hardly felt any of that sort of attraction. He knows from Nail that it's possible (both on the sexual front and the romantic one) and he's still young - Dende, especially for a Namekian he's young - but the closest thing he's felt to what he's observed between the Saiyans and their wives, or the relationship between Krillin and Eighteen, is what he feels for Gohan and that's clearly not the same thing. Four year age difference or not, the kid's still  _only fourteen_ and Piccolo's a particularly old eighteen. They're friends. More than friends, but Piccolo doesn't have the words to describe their relationship more clearly than that.

Whatever their relationship is, it's the reason Piccolo offers, "You can still talk to me about this."

Gohan smiles, pure and honest and just for his teacher. "I guess a lot of it is that I've only really been around couples like - oh, Bulma and Vegeta, or my parents, and I'm pretty sure that's  _not_ what I want. I don't know what I  _do_ want, or if I want anything at all, but Mom seems to think that I should be starting to notice girls and ... well, I guess some of them are pretty enough but I don't  _know_ any of them and ... honestly, I don't spend time with kids my age regularly. Not unless you count." His tone was lightly teasing, and he felt another inexplicable splash of pink across his cheeks. "I don't know what she thinks is going to happen - that I'll see some girl for the first time and fall in love with her without even knowing her name?" He was clearly frustrated and disbelieving of that possibility, and Piccolo didn't blame him.

That was a lot to sort through, and Piccolo took several solid minutes to pick through it before attempting to respond. "You don't have to want the same thing that other people have," he started with, knowing that was the easiest truth he could give the kid about this. "It's your life, and you should be living it how  _you_ want." He watched Gohan's relieved nod, accompanied by another blinding smile. Continuing, Piccolo said, "From what I understand your mother decided to marry your father the first time they met. When they were twelve. I'm a little surprised she hasn't told you about it, it's not exactly a secret ... so she might expect you to meet someone the first time and want to spend the rest of your life with them, but even I know that's not the way it is for most people. Besides, you're still really young to be thinking about that sort of thing. I wouldn't worry, especially given how isolated you are." He paused, then reluctantly suggested, "If you're worried about that part, we could try to convince your mother to send you to school in the city."

A third brilliant smile, the sun shining just for Piccolo, is flashed at the Namekian. "I don't really feel like I  _need_ more friends, but it might be nice. At least it might make Mom less ... pushy. And you know how much she likes anything that makes me act  _normal_." He paused then, a small contemplative frown. "We'd have to switch around training days; I don't think I could handle training, a full day at school,  _and_ homework all in one day."

Piccolo didn't like that idea any more than Gohan seemed to, but by Dende as much as he barely tolerated the banshee the boy did need normal things in his life. A close friendship with a seven and a half foot tall alien didn't exactly count. Gohan should have friends,  _human_ friends, his own age. As much as the kid was  _definitely part Saiyan_ , Piccolo personally thought that he'd get along better with humans and that they'd make him feel less alone and less like he was a freak. Piccolo was never going to escape feeling  _abnormal_ because between not knowing what he was until he was a grown-up nine-year-old and how different from most Namekians he'd grown up there was nowhere in the universe where Piccolo Daimao Jr, son of the notorious Demon King, was going to be normal. But Gohan - even as an unbelievably powerful human-Saiyan hybrid, he had the chance to feel like he fit in.

Piccolo only fit with Gohan.

"We can train on weekends," Piccolo bit gruffly, not happy about the prospect of less time with Gohan but trying to hide it.

The smile he was given in response was less bright, but small and sweet, and Piccolo was sure he'd said the right thing. "You'll help me talk to Mom about it?"

The Namekian shoved down his own feelings, his desire to keep Gohan close and selfishly cling to what they had between them. "Of course I will."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't actually know if my impression is _accurate_ , but it always sort of felt to me that in the anime Gohan didn't start at Orange Star High until he was already like eighteen? Like he seemed like a new student fresh out of home schooling when we picked up there. So, uh, ahead: freshman Gohan!


	5. The New Kid was Homeschooled

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gohan's first day of public school, ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apparently this Sunday was museful; here's a second chapter for today!

It hadn't actually taken that much to convince Chi-Chi. There had been some resistance, a desire to keep her 'baby boy' close at hand, but there were more arguments that sprung out fully formed as if designed to convince her for her to resist. It would help Gohan get used to structured classes for college, it would have him out around _normal_ people instead of just spending time with the Z-Fighters, it would help him make  _regular_ friends and on top of that the implication he might meet a  _girl_ ... in the end, Chi-Chi approved the change to training to weekends and was acting like it was  _her_ idea to enroll Gohan in school. After a few phone calls, she announced with pleasure that they were just in time to make the enrollment deadline.

Despite it being an idea he'd cooked up with Piccolo, Gohan couldn't help but be nervous; he'd never been to public school before, never spent much time with anyone who wasn't one of his Dad's friends (only Piccolo truly counted as  _his_ friend and his alone, instead of being first his Dad's friend). He did his best to hide his anxiety behind a tight smile as he hugged both his mother and his little brother good-bye; then he walked out, closed the door behind him, and took a deep breath to steady himself.

A tightly suppressed ki signature caught his notice, and his eyes darted over to see Piccolo casually leaning against a tree out of view from inside the house. A broad smile split his face, and Gohan darted over to wrap his arms around the Namekian's trim waist. As always there was that brief moment of hesitation as though Piccolo was trying to remember what to do, and then a broad palm and sharp claws pressed against the small of his back as the other taloned hand combed through his night-dark hair. When the Namekian spoke his voice was extra gruff as though he was trying to make up for the physical affection. "I thought I'd at least see you off the first day."

"I'm so glad you came," Gohan murmured against his teacher's abdomen. He knew he needed to get going to get all the way to Satan City in time for school, but he had no desire to let go. Did Piccolo always smell this good? He couldn't really remember paying attention before ...

"Nervous?" The Namekian's voice was softer now, low and gentle. He felt it as much as he saw it when Gohan nodded against him. "You're the bravest person I know, kid." A pause, and then he continued hesitantly. "Do you want me to fly with you into the city?" He wouldn't actually drop Gohan off at school - he was supposed to be making nice, normal, human friends after all and Piccolo's presence was hardly conducive to that - but he could at least go with the boy up until they were a few blocks from the school.

"Yes please," Gohan mumbled, then sighed and reluctantly extricated himself from the hug. "Thank you, really." He gave Piccolo one of those sun bright smiles. "We've got to get going, though. I shouldn't be late on the first day."

Piccolo nodded, straightening out his gi, and let Gohan take the lead as they launched into the air and headed for Satan City. Although he was vaguely annoyed at the fact that the weakling that had taken credit for Cell had done so with enough success that he'd had a city re-named after him, Piccolo could recognize that Gohan wouldn't want to be going to a hypothetical 'Son City' any more than Piccolo would want to have any of his efforts acknowledged in such a way. It was ... crass.

They were silent on the flight over, simply enjoying each other's presence ... something that Piccolo didn't really find himself able to do with anyone else. He was awkward with everyone else, even more awkward than he was with Gohan.

They landed in an empty alleyway about six blocks from the school and for a moment they just stood there, eyes not quite meeting as they stood in reluctance to part ways. Normally this would be one of their training days, and even though they'd trained the two days before they were still used to this being a day where they spent hours together.

Finally, Piccolo cleared his throat. "You need to get to school."

"I know." Another sunny smile. Those smiles weren't at all fair, and could easily have been used to manipulate Piccolo if Gohan were at all the type to do so. Which he wasn't. He also didn't know the effect that those smiles had on Piccolo. "I'm just going to miss you."

"You'll see me tonight," Piccolo reminded him gruffly.

"I know that, too," Gohan said with a sigh. Reaching out, he took Piccolo's hand briefly and squeezed, his fingers twined briefly between Piccolo's larger ones, then released him. "I'll see you after dinner."

"Hn." He gave his student and a small smile and a nod before he flew away.

For a moment Gohan stood there in silence, watching after Piccolo, then turned quickly as he felt someone coming towards him.

"Who was that you were talking to?" The newcomer was shorter than him but about his age, with black pigtails that fell a little past her shoulders and big brilliantly blue eyes. Her power level was notably high for a human - not  _high_ , but higher than say, his mother's, and even his mother was stronger than your average human. She was also obviously something of a tomboy, so maybe a fighter of some sort?

"I - uh." Well, there was no real reason to  _lie_ about it. "He's my best friend. It's my first day, so he was seeing me off to school."

"He's green," she said, "and like -  _eight feet tall_."

"Seven and a half, or pretty close," Gohan corrected. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"What's that - you're telling me that your best friend is a  _seven and a half_ foot tall green guy?"

"Yeah, since I was four." He paused "He's only four years older than me, it's not weird or anything."

She looked at him suspiciously, but she couldn't seem to think of any other objection right off. "So, I didn't see you in middle school."

"Yeah, I was homeschooled."

"Ah, that explains it." She paused again, then a light went on in her eyes. "I know why he looked familiar; he fought in the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai - Ma Junior. He was the runner-up." She looked at him suspiciously. "There's no way that he's only four years older than you."

Gohan laughed. "You already pointed out his height and skin color, and you're going to get hung up on the idea that he has to  _age_ the same way we do? He was three at the 23rd Budokai." He shrugged. "The winner was my dad, which is kind of how I met Piccolo."

She looked at him in disbelief, then shook herself and picked up on something that made more sense than three-year-olds fighting in adult martial arts tournaments. "You're  _Son Goku's_ son? What happened to him? He didn't show up to defend his championship at the 24th." She flashed a smile. "My dad won that one, and I won the Junior Division."

"Yeah, I am. Son Gohan." He gave her a friendly smile. "So you're a martial artist, then? I thought you might be."

"Videl Satan. Are  _you_?" Her half-spoken question hung in the air between them.

"Uh, yeah. Never been on the tournament scene, though." The Cell Games  _definitely did not count_ , and he shied away from thinking too much about that. "My mom was in the 23rd as well, but she never was too keen on me learning martial arts. I'm pretty good anyway, but she likes me to focus on my studies."

"Pretty good? I'll be the judge of that." She grinned, hands on her hips. Except a bell rang, and she swore. "Damn it, it's time to get to school. We're going to be late!"

* * *

Classes weren't too bad, and honestly, Gohan was ahead in most of them. He supposed that wasn't surprising since his mother had pushed for him to study from the moment that she could get him to sit still and focus on academics. So classes weren't going to be a problem, which meant that Gohan just had to worry about the  _real_ reason that he was enrolled in public school.

Like Videl, who'd just sat down beside him, and the pair of blondes (one male, one female) who took the places across from them. "Hey, Gohan! These are Erasa and Sharpner. Guys, Gohan is Son Goku's son - you know, the winner of the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai?"

"Oh, another martial arts legacy. You compete too?" The long-haired boy was speaking; Gohan wasn't sure quite yet if he was Erasa or Sharpner.

"No, I'm a martial artist but I've never competed. I was training three days a week before starting school, but we're down to weekends now."

"What gym do you train at?" the blonde girl asked, rapt attention focused on him. "Videl's dad owns one, but I'm sure you know that."

Shifting uncomfortably at the attention. "Uh, I train one on one with my sensei. He's been teaching me since I was four, although I've trained with my Dad some too."

"What sort of teacher?" she pressed further. "And what happened to your dad? He didn't show up for the 24th, but wasn't there someone who looked like him in the Cell Games?"

"Uh, my dad died," Gohan said awkwardly without answering any of the other questions about his father. "It happened almost three years back."

"Erasa!" Videl chastized, clearing up for Gohan which blonde was Erasa and which was Sharpner. "You should have been more sensitive!"

"It's all right, you didn't know," Gohan said with an awkward half-smile. "It's really weird to have him gone, but it's not a fresh wound or anything like that. As for my teacher - well, Videl, you saw him this morning."

" _Ma Junior is your sensei?_ "

Gohan gave her a sideways look. "Well, yeah. His name is actually Piccolo, though."

Videl seemed the suspicious type. The wheels were racing in her head again, and Gohan thought that maybe he'd been too open about things when he'd talked to her earlier. Maybe he was being too open now. He was keeping the fact that he was he was a half-alien secret of course, but it hadn't occurred to him that Piccolo was something to  _hide_.  _Although maybe that's why Piccolo left when we were still six blocks from the school._

"So he's your best friend and your sensei and he drops you off for school?" Videl asked shrewdly.

"Well - yeah. Although I doubt he'll be dropping me off for school all the time; it was probably a one-time thing with it being the first day and all." He smiled fondly, glad for Piccolo's attention that morning. He'd needed that hug, and he'd needed the comfort offered by his teacher flying with him to school. "I live a ways off."

"Oh? Where?"

"Mount Paozu," Gohan answered around a mouthful of food. He was glad he'd had a big breakfast because even his 'large lunch' was going to have him ravenous by dinner. Oh well, he'd figure out. If big meals for breakfast and dinner didn't work out, maybe he could start bringing snacks for between classes. Silverware clattered, and Gohan was drawn frrom his vague musings about the logistics of making sure he was getting enough to eat mid-day as he looked up at the three faces staring at him. "What? I know it's remote. That's kind of why I've been homeschooled until now."

"Remote, he says," Sharpner scoffed. "I don't think it's possible to  _get_ more rural than that. You must have to leave really early in order to get here."

"Yeah, I guess." Not  _near_ as early as they were probably thinking, though. "Honestly, this is the first time I've really been around kids my age. My family sort of hangs out in a pretty tight circle of friends. I'm the youngest except for Trunks and my little brother Goten, and they're three and two." He paused. "Oh, and I think one couple is expecting a baby sometime soon - my dad's best friend and his wife."

"So you've just hung out with adults your whole life?" Erasa looked scandalized.

"Well ... yeah. Except for Piccolo is only four years older than me."

"I guess that's why he's your best friend," Videl said slyly, as though she could somehow pry more information out of Gohan.

"Well, it's a lot more than that." They were each other's firsts. First friends, first teacher and first student, the first person they felt honestly close with ... "But yeah, the fact that we were the youngest two in the group definitely had something to do with it. Other than Piccolo the next youngest is almost twenty years older than me ... well, no, Krillin's wife is only about ten years older than I am, but I don't know her very well yet. She's the one having the baby."

"So you've been out in the middle of nowhere, completely sheltered,  _forever_?" Sharpner asked with a little extra dramatics. "Well, we're going to change that. 'Del, when's the next time your dad's letting you throw a party?"

Videl looked thoughtful. "I'm having a back to school one on Friday. It'll be pretty big, so Gohan will be able to meet everyone."

The demi-Saiyan hesitated, shying away from the exact sort of thing he'd enrolled in Orange Star High for. "I have to be home for dinner, and then I meditate every night. Plus there's homework and I help Mom with Goten - I don't see how I could possibly come."

"Oh come on, you've got to meet people  _somehow_ ," Erasa encouraged. "Surely your mom will let you out for one night, and since it's Friday you can do your homework over the weekend! As for meditation - surely it won't hurt you to miss meditating  _one_ night."

That was it, wasn't it? He didn't  _want_ to give up his nightly meditation session with Piccolo. Even on days when they didn't talk very much it was one of Gohan's favorite parts of the day. Maybe  _the_ favorite. He loved his time spent with Piccolo, and he suspected that at this point he wouldn't sleep very well if he didn't meditate first.  _I suppose I could meditate alone_. It wasn't like he didn't know  _how_ , but he hated the idea of canceling on Piccolo even more than he disliked the idea of missing out on their regular time together. Still, this  _was_ why he was here, right?

"What time is this thing?" he asked warily. "I might be able to work it out."

"Eight, everyone comes over after dinner. It usually runs until about midnight. If your mom's worried about you getting home all right, there are plenty of guest rooms." Videl grinned slyly. "And you can always bring Piccolo."

"He doesn't like parties," Gohan answered almost automatically, knowing how much his best friend  _hated_ crowds and casual touch and loud noises and  _people_ and pretty much everything that made a party a party. Even if he did come - which he might if Gohan asked him to - he'd end up terrifying a bunch of teenagers by snapping at someone for failing to respect his personal space. No, it would make Piccolo miserable and cause a scene and the only reason he'd even thought about it this much was because  _damn it, the party was when he was supposed to be meditating with Piccolo_. "I don't know if Mom will let me stay out that late, but I'll see what I can do."

"Awesome! You'd better find a way to talk her into it because you  _need_ to be there," Erasa enthused.

His mom would almost definitely agree, but that wasn't what Gohan cared about. He didn't want to disappoint Piccolo  _or_ give up their nightly meditation. For now ... "Tell me all about what I need to know about going to school here," he redirected with a big smile.


	6. Moments of Levity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gohan reluctantly attends his first high school party.

How was it so hard to get someone to tell you that you weren't allowed to go to a party when you were fourteen and the party was extremely far from home and ran until midnight. Unfortunately, his mother was thrilled with the idea and since for once she actually remembered that he could take care of himself in most situations she told him he was allowed to spend the night at Videl's house. He suspected some of that broad, almost casual matchmaking was involved in her decision, but there was no getting past it. His first line of defense against this the party was gone and all he could hope for was that Piccolo would do the unlikely and insist that Gohan stay for their meditation session instead of going out. It wasn't likely; Piccolo was completely behind the notion of Gohan making friends and would probably see this as a good thing. Even Gohan had to admit this was sort of the point, but that didn't mean that he really wanted to give up time with his favorite companion on the off chance he'd make more friends. He seemed to be making friends with Erasa, Sharpner, and Videl ... wasn't that enough?

Gohan went up from dinner, aware Piccolo was already waiting for him in his bedroom. His friend and mentor came in through the front door most of the time, but sometimes - days, Gohan guessed, that he didn't want to deal with Chi-Chi - the Namekian ducked in through the window and waited for his student to come to him. The teenager smiled softly as he opened his door, his eyes going straight to Piccolo who is exactly where Gohan expects him to be. He shuts the door behind himself, kicking off his shoes and settling into his own normal spot on his bed. As much as he wants to be told not to go to the party - as much as he wants to be able to just say he doesn't want to go without triggering guilt over  _not trying_  - he pushes that aside and the pair of them settle into meditating together.

He comes out of it with a hand on his shoulder, just barely feeling those elegant black claws through his shirt, and smiles warmly up at Piccolo. He feels relaxed, refreshed,  _centered_. The meditation helps a lot, and even just spending time quietly with Piccolo is both soothing and exhilarating. It occurs to Gohan that he's not used to having more than one friend. Sure, he's friends with all the Z-Fighters, but they're  _Dad's_ friends more than really his.

"How was your first day?"

The demi-Saiyan groaned, flopping over onto his bed to stare up at the ceiling. "I guess it went well. I sort of made some friends, I guess? Videl seems to want to pry into everything, but she's nice otherwise, and so are Erasa and Sharpner. They seem to really want to help me fit in and get to know people, and Videl's a martial artist if I ever feel the need to practice my self-control."

"Weak then?"

"Not really. I mean, she's stronger than Mom but weaker than Krillin. A lot weaker than Krillin. She has potential - maybe could even learn to control her ki at least well enough to fly with a little push."

"So what is it that has you upset?" Piccolo was clearly confused; it sounded as though the notion of him going to school was working out exactly the way they wanted it to.

"I got invited to a party on Friday. Mom says I can go."

Piccolo waited for some explanation as to why that was a bad thing.

Gohan sighed again, turning onto his side partially so that he could look at Piccolo. "It's after dinner, and goes until around midnight." He really didn't want to give up that time with Piccolo, but he tried to keep his face as calm as possible. As a result, he only looked mildly pathetic. "Videl even said I could bring you, but I know you'd hate it."

The kid wasn't  _wrong_ , although Piccolo would have gone if Gohan had really wanted him to.  _Except I'd stand out and make everything harder on him_. "How did she know about me?"

"She saw us when you were leaving this morning - and she recognized you as Ma Junior, too." Gohan sighed again. "Like I said, she's kind of nosy."

"Gohan -"

The teen waved off whatever the Namekian was about to say. "I don't care if people know we're friends, Piccolo. It's not like I'm  _ashamed_ of you. If I thought you'd enjoy it at  _all_ I'd try to get you to come along, but there's no way you'd have fun with a bunch of loud kids running around and probably getting in your space." He wished it wouldn't be awful for Piccolo, because he'd love to go to a party with his best friend.

Again, the kid wasn't wrong. Piccolo barely tolerated the parties that were just the Z-Fighters and their associates, and he frequently failed to show up for those. Even as much as he adored Gohan, he doubted that a gaggle of children his age, letting loose and going wild, were going to be something that he could easily tolerate. "So you go to the party and I'll see you the next morning - although I don't want to hear that you skipped out on meditating just because I wasn't there."

That wasn't what Gohan wanted, but it was probably as good as he was going to get. "You're not upset?" Gohan was snatching at straws, looking for some way out of this. "I don't want to cancel on you." Almost three years now, and they'd never missed a night. They'd already had to reschedule their training days.

Piccolo gave a small, honest smile. He didn't want to break their routine, either, but this was the entire point of Gohan going to Orange Star High. "You're supposed to be making friends. So go make friends." He hesitated. "If you ever want to introduce me to any of them somewhere quieter than a party, I suppose that would be all right."

Dende, Gohan's smiles were intense. "I'd  _love_ to have you meet some of my new friends. You know, once I've known some of them for more than a day." Piccolo was the most important person in his life, and he didn't really want any friends that couldn't deal with that.

So he'd go on Friday, he'd get to know people better, and then eventually he'd introduce some of his friends to Piccolo once he felt relatively sure of them. Not that Piccolo was particularly sensitive, but Gohan didn't want to subject him to any negativity that he didn't have to. Gohan had a generally protective personality type, but Piccolo was the one he wanted to keep safe above and beyond anyone else.

Stretching out on his bed, Gohan smiled again before levering himself up off of the bed to wrap his thumb and forefinger around Piccolo's little finger. "I'll miss you Friday, but maybe we can run long in training on Saturday to sort of make up for it."

"Hn." The boy really could get Piccolo to do just about anything, and he had no idea. "We'll see. Get changed and go to bed." Extracting his finger from Gohan's hold, he ruffled the demi-Saiyan's hair and climbed out the window. Glancing back, he smirked at his student. "I'll be here tomorrow."

* * *

 _Oh, Dende, what have I gotten myself into_? Gohan stood off to one side with a glass of punch in his hand, feeling a little overstimulated. Which was ridiculous - how could he handle battles with some of the most dangerous creatures in existence, training with some of the most powerful people on the planet, actually  _was_ the strongest person on the Earth, and a stupid high school party was making him feel like the world was going to crash down on him. There was just  _so much_ to process, lights and sounds and smells -  _Dende, the smells_. This was so much worse than anything at school, as the room chosen for the party seemed to have been picked with the intention of keeping everyone in fairly close quarters.

He smelled alcohol - which he was avoiding - sweat, more perfume and cologne and body spay than he'd thought possible, the various snacks, carpet cleaner ... it made him appreciate how careful his mother obviously was about the sensitive noses. The chemical smells - both of cleaners and of the artificial scents a lot of the other teens had doused themselves in - were the worst of it.

 _I must look so antisocial, hanging out on the edge of the room and making faces with someone particularly heavy-handed on the body spray._ Usually, the Z-Fighter parties were either outside or at somewhere like Kame House or Capsule Corp where things were never too crowded and no one was drenching themselves in scents to try to attract the people around them.

"Not having fun?"

Gohan looked down at Videl, giving her a small, forced smile. "It's not ... I've never been to a party like this before. It's a lot to take in, and I've got a sensitive nose, too." He wrinkled it up as if to make a point. "Honestly, the cleaners are bothering me, and so is all the perfume and everything." He noticed that  _she_ wasn't doused in anything; all he smelled on her was soap and clean sweat and her not-unpleasant personal scent. Changing the subject, he asked, "So who all should I be meeting? You _do_  know all these people, right?"

Videl laughed. "Heck no. This is our entire class, or close enough. I mean, what sort of people do you want to hang out with? It's not like I can wave a magic wand and make you friends with people. You've got to put in the effort!"

It was an effort he was feeling less and less need to put forth. "I like you and Erasa and Sharpner well enough," he said with a shrug as he tried to think about what sorts of people he  _wanted_ to be friends with. "Um, I suppose I have something in common with martial artists, and I enjoy science." He laughed nervously. "This is so awkward. Sorry to drag you away from your party." A girl walked by with a particularly intense concentration of perfume, and Gohan sneezed twice. "Ugh."

"Huh, you do have a sensitive nose, don't you?" Videl smiled, and Gohan wasn't really sure how he felt about it. He couldn't really tell if she was being friendly or ... something else. "Honestly this isn't really how I'd do it, either, but Dad always gets really involved in making sure that any party I throw is  _good enough_ for Hercule Satan's daughter."

Wait - he knew that name. Gohan blinked slowly, looking her over appraisingly. She looked  _nothing_ like the man who'd tried to take on Cell and gotten backhanded into a cliff, which was probably why he hadn't made the connection a week ago when she'd introduced herself. "You're  _his_  daughter?"

Videl gave him a strange look. "You didn't know?"

"You don't look like him." Probably a good thing, all things considered. "I mean it's not like I was paying attention to him for very long." He shrugged.

Another of those odd looks crossed Videl's face. "You act like you  _met_ him. Not that it's impossible, but people who have usually aren't so blase about it."

"Right, he's pretty famous isn't he?" Another awkward laugh. He couldn't really admit his casual contempt for the man - not that he had any desire to out him or anything. Nor did he have any desire to claim the fame associated with being the  _true_ champion of the Cell Games. He'd rather put all that behind him. "It was just one of those things, you know, where you randomly run into someone? We didn't so much meet as cross paths. Very briefly. I doubt he remembers me."  _Or at least if he does, it's as an eleven-year-old with gold hair, teal eyes, and an attitude to make Vegeta look calm and humble_.

"Huh." He wasn't sure she believed him, but he also didn't think he could come up with a better lie. At least this one was  _mostly_ the truth. You know, if you ignored the fact that after Hercule had been bitch slapped out of the way things had gone on to feature his younger self  _toying_ with Cell instead of ending things when he should have. "So I guess you don't get much of him all the way out on Mount Paozu."

Relieved she seemed to be accepting it, Gohan nodded. "Yeah. Like I said, we're pretty isolated, although it's not as bad as when my dad grew up out there. He didn't meet anyone except his Grandpa until he was twelve. It's still way out there, but we're more connected."

"Which is how you wound up with Ma Junior for your teacher and best friend. Because you're  _more connected_."

Gohan was pretty sure that she didn't mean anything malicious by her comments, but Videl had still put his back up. "His name's Piccolo." Deep breath; he didn't want to acknowledge the stab of anger, but he had to do his best to suppress it. "You don't get it; the first time I met anyone besides my parents and Grandpa Gyumao I was four. Piccolo was my first friend." His first friend, and so much more than that. So much that he couldn't communicate openly to someone who wasn't already in the know.

Videl and her curiosity, however, latched onto something else. "Grandpa Gyumao - like the  _Ox King_?"

"Uh, yeah?"

"You mean you're a  _prince_?"

Gohan paused. "Huh. I guess so? I've never really thought about it. I mean, he's just my grandpa."

Videl threw up her hands in disgust at Gohan's lack of awareness of his own situation. Going back to the party, she left Gohan to his wallflower ways. Not long after, Gohan ducked out of the party early, heading home to meditate.  _Gotta be fresh for training in the morning._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter came out a little odd, I'm having a weird day. Forgive me?


	7. We're Not Gonna Take It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ever had one of those days where you were done the moment you woke up?

For a long moment that morning, Gohan stared at the ceiling wondering if he'd be able to successfully fake sick and skip out on going to school. Or he could tell his mother he was going, then go somewhere  _else_ until time to be home again ...

His mother, clearly, would try to accuse him of trying to shirk his studies, but that wasn't it at all. Today was the three-year anniversary of his father's death, and just to rub salt in the wound it turned out that there was going to be some sort of parade in Satan City today celebrating Mr. Satan's victory over Cell. Gohan honestly didn't think he could successfully fake even being neutral about that, not with a parade going on that should be celebrating the fighters who had  _actually made a difference_ that day. He didn't want the glory for himself (for all that a deep, purely Saiyan part of him hissed that this was  _his_ victory) but surely the others and most especially _his dad_ deserved some recognition. Mostly everyone was content with anonymity, but as little thought as Gohan gave to the fact that Videl's dad had claimed his victory, he didn't think he could handle a parade about it on the anniversary of his dad's death.

Screw faking. Levering himself up out of bed, Gohan pulled on his gi and went downstairs for breakfast. As he sat at the table and served himself from the ample dishes, his mother quite predictably stopped what she was doing to focus on him.

"Gohan, you have school today. You need to get dressed to go." He could  _feel_ the harsh judgment radiating from her, but he wasn't going to bend to it today.

"They're letting us out early anyway, so we can watch the parade celebrating Hercule Satan's defeat of Cell. I'm going to spend the day with Piccolo instead."

Chi-Chi wasn't used to such definitive declarations from her son and pulled back slightly. "Even if it's only a half day -"

"Dad died three years ago today, Mom. I'm not going to spend the day pretending to be excited about  _Hercule Satan's victory_. It's just one day and I'm not going to miss anything, anyway. I'll be back in school tomorrow when everything's back to normal."

His mother seemed to be unsure how to respond to that, and so Gohan finished wolfing down his breakfast and got out the door before she could find another way to argue with him. Gohan had a pretty good idea where to find Piccolo, but stretched out his senses to find him anyway. It turned out to be a good thing because for once the Namekian was not at the Lookout with Dende and Mr. Popo. Instead, he was at -

_The waterfall._

The demi-Saiyan made no effort to hide his approach, landing a little ways off from Piccolo's waterfall, just watching his teacher meditate for a moment. Then he walked carefully forward, trying not to be so loud as to disturb his sensei; however, he stopped in place with a guilty smile as Piccolo's deep obsidian eyes snapped open at his quiet approach.

For a moment there was silence; it frequently felt like Piccolo was remembering how to talk when they first came back together, especially if it was unexpected. "You're supposed to be in school today, kid."

Gohan sighed running a hand through his hair. "It's a half day, and there's a parade this afternoon to celebrate Mr. Satan's supposed victory over Cell. I just can't deal with that on top of ... today."

Piccolo's expression softened slightly. To most people, the Namekian would still be terribly imposing, but to Gohan he might as well have started smiling. "I'm surprised you got out past your mother."

"Uh, I sort of just ... told her I wasn't going to school. And then I left." He blushed slightly, but Piccolo responded with a low chuckle.

"I suppose it would be best if I met you in your bedroom tonight instead of trying to go in past your mother."

Gohan grimaced but nodded. His mom would probably blame Piccolo for his truancy, and he'd just as soon things prevent things like 'demon' and 'monster' from being thrown around. Not that having his mother called 'harpy' or 'banshee' was much better. "You know I stopped latching the window years ago." It wasn't like there was any danger to him, after all, and he liked Piccolo being able to come and go that way if he wanted.

(Later, when he was a little older, he might question why he liked leaving a way for Piccolo to come see him whenever he wanted. Maybe. He probably wouldn't.)

Piccolo didn't respond to that, but he did reach out to welcome Gohan with a hand briefly squeezing the demi-Saiyan's shoulder. They were quiet for a moment, still and near each other and nothing else, and then Piccolo made an elegant gesture to the space beside him. "Meditation first, then we can train." He paused, then somewhat awkwardly asked, "Do you need to talk?"

The teenage titan shook his head, smiling softly. "No, I just need to avoid Satan City and the whole  _parade_ today. I - the usual issues don't seem quite as bad this year. I still feel  _guilty_ , but it's not as overwhelming." He ran a hand through his hair again, feeling awkward. Maybe he did need to talk a little bit, and he settled in next to Piccolo although without properly situating himself for meditation. "Honestly I'm even a little mad because that's  _my victory_ , and I know that's stupid. What's really bothering me about it is that everybody's celebrating and I'm just - I still miss my dad."

The Namekian nodded, indicating his understanding without offering anything else to the conversation.

Gohan let the words settle, wondering if he should just start meditating. Maybe he should just start meditating ... but there was no one else that he was going to go to about any of this. He wasn't completely sure that Piccolo always understood what he was feeling, but at least he listened and he never made Gohan feel like he was wrong for feeling what he did.  _Except for helping me work through a lot of that guilt I was carrying at first._  "I can't believe it's been three years already. I can't believe he really thought staying gone would be better for any of us."

Piccolo decided not to mention that implicit in Goku's decision to stay dead was the assumption that Gohan could handle any future threats to the Earth. That was a little much to put on a fourteen-year-old's shoulders, much less a boy of  _eleven_. He also didn't bring up the fact that Goku probably hadn't thought through anything so delicate as  _other people's feelings_. Instead, he just said, "It's all right to be angry with him for leaving."

The kid sighed. Was he angry? Maybe. He was definitely hurt, and that was on top of grief and guilt and a whole jumble of emotions. "I never let on to anyone else how much this still upsets me. It's always 'it's okay, it's been years' or just not mentioning it at all." Because Piccolo was the only one he trusted with his emotional life, the only one he let in enough to see the mess his heart was still in after the last few years. "I still can't believe he chose to leave us, even though this is the third damn time." His hands fisted in the grass beside his thighs, and he struggled to keep his breathing steady. "Even when you left me in the wilderness, it was to teach me how to survive. With him, it's because he wants to train, or something - something that just puts  _him_ before  _us_. Like he doesn't even realize we need him."

A soothing, clawed hand came to rest on Gohan's shoulder. "He didn't mean to hurt you."  _He just didn't think._ "It's okay to be hurt anyway." Piccolo felt as useless as a fortune cookie half the time when he said things like this - it was from his merged parts, mostly Kami, not from the core of who he was. That didn't make him mean it any less, and he knew from those other presences in his mind that somewhere deep down these things were true, and probably what Gohan needed to hear.

Gohan did calm somewhat but was still obviously troubled. "I don't think that I can meditate right now, and I'm not in the mood to train," he mumbled, sounding embarrassed. He honestly wished he'd brought something to read with him; curling up next to Piccolo with his nose in a book sounded really good right now. He could lean against his mentor's thigh just for the comfort of touch, and maybe Piccolo would sneak in one of those little touches - a taloned hand in his hair, or on his shoulder, or stroking his back. Such thoughts had Gohan's cheeks heating, although he didn't quite know why. It was all perfectly innocent, a mere rearrangement of affectionate gestures that already occurred between them from time to time. _I really love the feel of his claws in my hair_.

Trying to shake himself out of it, Gohan cleared his throat and shifted away from Piccolo. "I'm gonna swim if you don't mind," he said as he kicked off his boots and started tugging off his gi. At the Namekian's vague noise of assent, the teenager stripped down to his underwear and dove into the pool that the waterfall plunged into. The cool water was refreshing and helped his mind feel less jumbled, and Gohan quickly fell into a more relaxed state as he pulled himself through the water. It was easier to  _not think_ awkward thoughts, and it was better than sitting around doing nothing.

When he finally pulled himself out of the water, Piccolo was standing near the waterfall as though he'd been guarding Gohan while he swam. The fact that he wasn't looking at the nearly naked and very wet teenager seemed oddly purposeful, but Gohan just raised his ki enough to dry off and pulled his gi pants back on.

"Feel better?"

"I do," Gohan said with a sunny smile. "I don't know why I don't do that more often. I'm sorry I interrupted your meditating, but if you want I could join you now?"

Piccolo gave Gohan one of his small, secret smiles in return. "I'd like that, kid. I'd like that a lot."


	8. Kick Ass Fifteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gohan gets roped into a fifteenth birthday party. At least this one is small.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait; I was hospitalized for most of the last week. I wrote in a notebook at least a little every day, but I didn't get as much done. I hope you enjoy my random scribblings!

This wasn't  _exactly_ how he wanted to spend the post-dinner evening of his birthday (after dinner because the way he and Goten ate was sort of a substantial clue they weren't normal humans) but at least his mother had agreed to let him put Piccolo on the guest list ... and after some very minor hesitation, Piccolo had agreed to attend.

_"I'm not sure you know what you're getting into, kid, but if you want me there I'll be there."_

He hadn't invited many people other than Piccolo - just Videl and the blondes - and this would be much more lowkey than the beginning of the year party he'd attended. Movies, snacks, maybe some games ... just some friends hanging out and having fun.

Piccolo was already there, hanging out awkwardly in the kitchen when the others arrived. Gohan answered the door with a friendly smile, ushering everyone in.

"Dende, this is  _really out there_ , isn't it?" Erasa observed unnecessarily. "I can't believe you make that trip twice every day!"

"Yeah, well, it's not that bad once you get used to it." He stepped back, going to grasp Piccolo's last two fingers to tug him out to meet his friends from school. "Guys, this is Piccolo. Pic, these are Videl, Erasa, and Sharpner."

"Nice to meet you!" Erasa was the loudest voice as they were introduced, and she stepped forward to try to hug Piccolo only to receive a fang-baring snarl and a step back in response. Even without his turban and cape on he still cut a very imposing figure, especially for those unused to his particular quirks.

"Uh, sorry, Piccolo doesn't really like to be touched," Gohan explained while still in casual contact with the Namekian. "Anyway, there are snacks, there's cake, and we've got movies and games. Or we can just hang out." He laughed nervously; the party had been his mom's idea and mostly planned by her. "Mom took my little brother Goten for an overnight with his friend Trunks, so it's just us. Everything's in the living room."

"No parental supervision?" Sharpner asked archly. "Cool."

Gohan just shrugged, moving with the group into the living room. He suspected his mother was expecting Piccolo to be the adult supervision, but as far as Gohan was concerned his best friend was just one of the guests. "We're old enough to look after ourselves, don't you think?" Fifteen today, complete with candles already jammed into the cake on the coffee table.

Videl had picked up the movies as the others settled in on the couch, Erasa in the middle and Sharpner in the armchair. Gohan took one end of the couch while Piccolo rested easily on the arm by his student. As tall as he was the sofa's arm made a fairly comfortable perch.

Once she'd unilaterally decided on one of the movies, Videl popped it in and took the seat between Erasa and Sharpner at the other end of the couch from Gohan and Piccolo. Still, as the movie started, Videl was throwing the pair of fighters those curious, suspicious looks of hers.

The movie was a pretty decent one, and honestly even Piccolo seemed engaged. As it went on Gohan noticed less and less of Videl's glances and he relaxed next to Piccolo, eventually leaning his head casually against his mentor's thigh. After a while, Piccolo's hand slipped easily into Gohan's hair, his hand staying in place throughout the remainder of the movie.

As the credits rolled, Gohan reluctantly extracted himself from the comfortable companionship he'd been sharing with the Namekian. Muttering something about the cake, Gohan headed towards the kitchen to get a knife.

"I'm gonna make sure he remembers the matches," he heard Videl say behind him. He sighed, but there she was, popping up like Nancy Drew trying to solve a mystery.

"You  _like_ him!" Videl accused in a low voice, although Gohan was embarrassingly aware that Piccolo would still be able to hear.

His voice kept even lower (although it wouldn't escape Piccolo's astute hearing) Gohan insisted, "We're  _friends_ , 'Del. you're seeing things that aren't there."

Videl scoffed as Gohan grabbed a knife and a book of matches. "Oh, come on, you were practically snuggled up with Mr. I-Don't-Like-to-be-Touched and he  _let you_. More than just let you - he was just as touchy-feely as you were."

"We were barely touching, and it's not like that means what you think it does anyway. We're friends. Really good friends." They'd had this talk months ago. Piccolo had never experienced attraction of any sort and Gohan remained confused on the subject. As for tonight, after overhearing this Piccolo was probably going to leave, or at least move to the other armchair. And given how much Gohan craved his sensei's affection, he wasn't at all happy. "Why do you have to poke your nose into everything?"

"Why do you keep so many secrets?"

"I'm not keeping secrets," Gohan hissed. "I told you the day we met that he's my best friend. Why are you so surprised that we enjoy each other's company?"

Videl crossed her arms in annoyance, one foot tapping out a demand. "because seeing you together, I can tell that 'just friends' is the biggest lie you've ever told. You two are totally into each other!"

"He doesn't think of me that way!" It was getting increasingly hard to keep his voice down. Sure, Gohan had fantasies he still hadn't come to terms with, still fresh and featuring moments of increased affection, but even those were still  _just friendly_. "Dende, Videl, you're reading way too much into things."

"You're the one who pointed out that he's only four years older than you." Her voice had acquired an annoying sing-song quality.

"Which has nothing to do with anything. Piccolo and I aren't dating or anything like that. We're just really good friends, and we have been for most of our lives." He was becoming angry and distressed in equal measures. Piccolo was probably really uncomfortable. He didn't need Videl's crazy ideas put on him. Even if Gohan did like Piccolo like that, he didn't have a chance. "Just leave it alone, 'Del."

"Fine, fine," she said, waving the birthday boy off. As she headed back into the living room she paused to point out, "You didn't once say you don't like him that way."

Gohan gaped after her for a moment because  _he hadn't_ , then hurried back into the living room with the knife and matches. "All right, cake!"

 _'I can leave if you want me to.'_ The sensation of Piccolo's mental voice was always welcome; however, the contents weren't.

 _'No,'_ Gohan replied as he lit the candles.  _'She's just nosy and looking for secrets. I really, really want you to stay.'_   After talking to Videl he had to wonder - could it be because he  _liked_ him?

Gohan noticed Piccolo's tiny smile as he let the others make a fuss over the cake and then - gently - blew out the candles.  _'Fine, kid. If you want me here that bad, I'll stick around.'_


	9. Fifteen, Kick Ass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gohan's fifteenth birthday party continues.

With a grin, Gohan cut and passed out the cake. He even offered a small piece to Piccolo who took it gracefully before Gohan settled back in next to his teacher.

"I swear he looks like he's dancing even when he's just eating cake." Erasa's voice was too loud for a proper whisper but still had that quality like she was trying to keep from frightening a wild animal she'd caught sight of. There was something in her eyes that Gohan didn't like - that made him _jealous_ of all things.

Doing his best to ignore Erasa's (accurate) comments on Piccolo's inarguable elegance, Gohan aggressively started on his own piece of cake. First Videl nosing in, and now Erasa making calf-eyes at Piccolo - honestly, Gohan was starting to wish he hadn't invited the girls.

Piccolo, for his part, was rather expertly ignoring the attention he was getting from the blonde girl. Gohan was a little impressed with how easily his sensei did that ... or maybe the Namekian just didn't notice. He could be remarkably obtuse, after all.

"Do we want to stick in the other movie, or do something else?" the demi-Saiyan asked impolitely around a mouthful of cake."

"I want to see some of the martial arts skills you've been bragging about," Sharpner said lazily, looking at both Gohan and Piccolo. He'd clearly been paying attention when Gohan had mentioned that Piccolo was his sensei.

"I wasn't bragging, I just mentioned that I am a martial artist. 'Del is the one who actually won the Junior Division at the 24th Budokai -"

"And Piccolo here came in second at the 23rd," Videl pointed out, "while your dad came in first. You said they both trained you, so you've got to be pretty good."

Erasa was still slyly focused on Piccolo, but Gohan's eyes darted between the others - Videl to Sharpner to Piccolo and back again. His classmates looked intently focused on Gohan and the idea of him - what? Facing off against Videl? Piccolo, on the other hand, was maintaining a neutral expression. Unless he messed up to the point that his sensei felt the need to step in, he was on his own.

"I'm all right." It was pretty clear that he was being modest, but maybe he'd be able to dissuade them. An exercise in self-control wasn't exactly his idea of fun.  _Although if I let Videl beat me ..._  "I guess if you really want to, we can head outside," he said with a long-suffering sigh.

_Pushy, nosy, and demanding. She really is something else._

"Outside it is," 'Del said bruskly, leading the entire party out the front door. Even Piccolo trailed along, subtly amused by the prospect of Gohan's match with Videl.

They faced off immediately, the teenage demi-Saiyan doing his best to look less expert than he was. He was very much in practice, and his reflexes were well trained. Letting someone else gain the upper hand on purpose was not something Gohan would naturally do.

Maybe he could beat her, just a little ... but that might just keep her interested.

_One loss, coming up._

He let Videl take the first shot, and blocked her punch with minimal effort. He didn't have to make it easy on her, after all. Videl's eyes narrowed, and she attacked again - only to be just as easily rebuffed. He could do this all day without breaking a sweat, but unless Piccolo instructed him to give a little more he was still planning on losing to Videl.

Erasa was standing too close to Piccolo, and both the Namekian and Sharper had their arms casually crossed as they watched the impromptu match. The one Gohan cared about was his mentor, but there was nothing in his expression to betray his thinking.

So he let Videl land a hit. He barely felt it, but he could feel the skill and power behind it.

Annoyance carefully kept under control, Gohan methodically kept the match as even as possible while slowly letting Videl have the upper hand. Unfortunately, he wasn't as good at faking being weak as he'd assumed he was.

"Stop holding back!" Videl was frustrated and furious. "There's no point to this if you're just going to insult me by letting me win!  _Actually fight me!_ "

The demi-Saiyan glanced at his teacher, who removed Erasa's hand stiffly from his arm while giving Gohan a slight, subtle nod. He still had to hold back to keep from unduly injuring Videl, but the time for pretending he was weak was over.

Gohan moved rapidly, although not so quickly as to give away how powerful he actually was. He turned the tables speedily, taking Videl to the ground with minimal effort.

"Happy?" he asked her, looking down at his opponent. There was no reason to continue this, but there was the chance that Videl would push for more. "I can do that every time."

Videl pushed up from the ground, glaring at Gohan as she regained her feet. "Why'd you hold back?" she asked, obviously offended.

"Don't want the attention. Same reason I've never competed." He shrugged, glancing back at Piccolo just in time to see his sensei take an unsubtle step away from Erasa. "The people who need to know how good I am already know."

"What, and your  _friends_ don't need to know?" Her eyes narrowed.

Frankly, they didn't. "I don't even  _like_ fighting. That's not what this is about for me."

"So what's it about for you, then?"

Gohan took a deep breath, trying to put things in a way that didn't involve his earliest training, or Namek, or Cell - "Piccolo suggested that training more regularly would help me to get over my dad's death. I took it really hard." He shrugged dismissively. "It's been working, but I've got no desire to compete." Unless he was enraged, he lacked the Saiyan will to fight and improve himself.

Videl had the decency to look abashed. "So you're mourning your father -"

"Who loved to fight," he confirmed. That was rather simplifying the situation, and he glanced at Piccolo as he tried to talk himself out of being interesting, at least as a martial artist. "I train with Piccolo regularly but that's about it."

Piccolo seemed to approve of what Gohan was saying or, at least, he wasn't openly offended by it and it was at least a portion of the truth. Of course, at that moment Piccolo had apparently lost the last of his patience and pulled away from Erasa's persistent attempts at affection with his most intimidating fang-baring snarl.

"Erasa, I  _said_ he doesn't like to be touched, lay off!" Moving to stand between his harrassed friend and the blonde girl, he turned his attention back to Videl and Sharpner. "'Del, Sharpner, you two satisfied?"

Sharpner shrugged and scoffed dismissively, and Videl glared but nodded. Hopefully, this really would be the end of it.

"All right, we've got another movie inside, or we can find something else to do." If he wanted a fight with someone other than Piccolo, he'd look up one of the other Z-Fighters. Since he didn't want anything outside of what he had with Piccolo, all he needed or wanted was right here.


	10. The Prince's Attentions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gohan catches Vegeta's interest while dropping off Goten for a playdate.

Goten, three and a half and completely rambunctious, was of all things Chi-Chi's martial arts student. Gohan had found out quite by accident when he'd come home from a half-day of school and found them training in the yard. He had to admit to a certain amount of jealousy. His mother had forbidden his father from training him, yet here she was training Goten for who knew how long.

Perturbed by the whole situation, Gohan still found himself taking his brother flying on Nimbus to Capsule Corp for a playdate with Trunks. Hopping off of the cloud upon arrival, he found the front door opening before he could knock. Face to face with Vegeta, Gohan froze awkwardly while Goten ran into the building screaming, "TRUNKS, TRUNKS, TRUNKS!" while the other boy responded "TEN! TEN! TEN!"

Vegeta completely ignored the fact that the two little demi-Saiyans had started an intense play-fight behind him, instead looking Gohan over appraisingly. "You've been keeping up on your training," he said, his tone almost approving. Almost.

"Uh, yes," the powerful demi-Saiyan answered nervously. "With Piccolo."

The Prince of all Saiyans snorted dismissively, which sparked a thread of anger in the teenager. With a grunt, Vegeta motioned with a jerk of his head for Gohan to follow him.

There was a moment's hesitation, but anger spurred him forward. His need to protect Piccolo - their mutual, habitual defense of each other - was hardly new nor was it secret. It was completely possible that Vegeta was manipulating him, but Gohan couldn't bring himself to care.  _Score one Vegeta for playing on my closest and dearest relationship. He'll regret it._

The full-blooded Saiyan led Gohan to the Gravity Room in silence. Once inside he looked his young subject over, then calmly set the chamber to 250G. Unless he'd totally misread the brat's power level, he should be able to handle that.

"All right, brat. Come at me."

It took a second for him to compensate for the increased gravity, but then Gohan rushed his father's rival expertly. The fight went on without either giving any quarter. Vegeta was, of course, far more experienced; Gohan, however, had more raw power and had been focusing on increasing his skill and finesse over the last two and a half years. He was just cocky enough to be certain all he had to worry about with the prince was the older man's long-honed cunning. All in all, they were remarkably well matched, although it was Gohan who had the edge in raw brute strength.

"Enough." Vegeta's tone left no room for defiance, although some deep, instinctive place within him growled that Gohan didn't have to bow to Vegeta's will. Still, the spar ended, and Vegeta gave Gohan another assessing gaze. "You're not much stronger than you were against Cell, but you're more skilled - much more. The Namek's been doing a good job of teaching you as a martial artist, but you still need to work on your strength."

"I'm still stronger than you," Gohan snapped, seeing a slight against Piccolo next to the compliment. "I've been getting stronger, too - it's just not the focus."

Vegeta gave Gohan a flat look. He'd long suspected that there was more between Kakarot's older brat and the Namekian; it was just a matter of how long it was going to take them to realize it. So far they were both being as dense as Kakarot himself, although he supposed that it could in part be forgiven since the brat was all of fifteen.

"Regular training in the Gravity Room would keep your skill and strength balanced."

Gohan hesitated but put like that it actually made sense. "My schedule is pretty full." He wasn't saying yes, but he wasn't rejecting the offer, either.

"Tch. you have to have some time, at least once a week." The demi-Saiyan couldn't tell if Vegeta was annoyed, impatient, or something else entirely.

Hesitantly, Gohan nodded. "I supposed I'm still free on Saturday afternoons." That would give him Sunday afternoons to catch up on any last minute weekend homework, and to make sure he wasn't too exhausted for school on Monday.

"Then it's settled. Keep training with your Namek, and I'll train you on Saturdays."

Gohan flushed, delicate pink spreading across his cheeks -  _His Namekian?_ \- but he nodded tersely. "I can come straight from training with Piccolo if you don't mind me grabbing lunch here." You didn't just take another Saiyan's food, after all.

"Hn. That will do." Vegeta smirked. "We'll make a true Saiyan out of you yet."

While that wasn't exactly something that was even on Gohan's priority list, he couldn't quite deny himself the honor of being trained by Vegeta. "I'll see you Sunday, then." He didn't wait for a dismissal, instead simply turning off the Gravity Room and heading out.

For some reason, Vegeta's laughter followed him down the hallway.


	11. Year Four, Whatcha Lookin' For?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Fourth Anniversary arrives.

At least the fourth anniversary of his father's death fell on a Saturday. That meant no school ... and it also meant that he was scheduled to be busy all day. He had his morning with Piccolo, his afternoon with Vegeta, and then his evening meditating with Piccolo. Hopefully a full day would be a good thing; his meltdowns had been getting less severe as the years passed, and he actually felt hopeful that he'd just be kept too busy to crack this year.

He sensed for Piccolo and found him this time in the forest, landing a few yards from his mentor and smiling broadly at the tall Namekian. Every once in a while Gohan noticed that his desire for plain physical contact with Piccolo was increasing, but he did his best to ignore it. In fact, he was starting to fall off in initiating contact, instead letting Piccolo come to him and offer whatever affection he was comfortable with.

The only problem with that approach was that he desperately missed just casually touching his sensei.

When Piccolo closed the distance between them and ruffled Gohan's hair casually, the fifteen-year-old smiled broadly. Dende, he wanted - he honestly didn't know what he wanted, outside of more of  _that_.

 _Image of the two of them sitting at the waterfall, Gohan's head resting on Piccolo's thigh as he read, the Namekian's clawed fingers carding affectionately through his hair_. The year-old fantasy made color rise in Gohan's cheeks, dying them a faint crimson. He'd had more sense then, but when it came down to it they all featured the same sorts of thing. Intimate closeness, sharing space, touches and caresses. It was hardly pushing farther than reality, but Gohan still felt like if Piccolo knew he'd feel like the demi-Saiyan had somehow overstepped the bounds of friendship. Dende, he felt like he was somehow  _betraying_ Piccolo by wanting more, especially since ... that night.

 _Have you ever liked anyone, Piccolo?_ Ultimately the response, that for some reason made him ache -  _No, I haven't._

Gohan so often wished he hadn't  _gone there_ just because he was confused about his mother's apparent matchmaking attempts (and she seemed to like Videl now, although thankfully she wasn't pushing him at his classmate other than the occasional nudge). It would have been better to leave matters closed on that front, so much better.

He was so busy in his own mind - and for once,  _not_ thinking about Cell or his father's death or his father's decision to  _stay_ dead - that he didn't notice the look of concern growing on his mentor's face. "How are you doing, kid?"

Starting slightly, Gohan's blush darkened. "I'm all right. Not great, but ... not so focused on four years ago, either. I kind of feel like I can breathe this year."

"That's good." There was one of those small, secret smiles that had such an interesting effect on Gohan's stomach. "You're definitely doing better than last year."

Except that the fantasies were worse, but there didn't seem to be anything for Gohan to do about that. He did his best to ignore them and rationalize them away, but they persisted. "It gets a little easier every year, I think. Maybe one day I won't be so sensitive about it."

"Hn." Piccolo offered a barely there smile, then turned to a small clearing that barely had enough room for the two of them to spar. Too much running and they'd end up in the trees with their vision obscured, so they'd have to dodge and block while staying in close quarters. Not that Gohan ever objected to close quarters when it came to Piccolo ...

After a moment to ground themselves, the pair jumped into action, both working within the confined space and using it to their advantage as much as possible. This was a different sort of fighting than they'd done recently, but it had real world applications if they ever got stuck in a battle in tight quarters. Plus it kept them on their toes, and therefore kept Gohan from having time to think too much about the Cell Games and the surrounding events.

Then Gohan rushed Piccolo, and his sensei turned the attack around, pinning Gohan to a tree. The demi-Saiyan's breath caught, and a vision flashed before his eyes - _Piccolo leaning in, green lips brushing against pink just hard enough for fangs to be felt_ -

Where had  _that_ come from? Gohan blushed and pulled back, his head bumping against the tree; that reaction made Piccolo's cheeks gain a purple tinge as he stepped back as well. Confusion was palpable between them for a moment, then Piccolo cleared his throat. "Let's switch to meditating for now."

Gohan didn't think he'd ever heard such a wonderful suggestion, and he quickly jumped on it. "That sounds like a great idea." He went to settle in next to a  _different_ tree, doing his best to put random thoughts of kisses from Piccolo out of his head. Why would he even think about something that? It was clear that there was no chance of anything happening there even if Gohan wanted anything besides friendship. Which he didn't. They were  _just friends_.

* * *

More than usually worn out from his session with Piccolo - they'd switched back to sparring once they'd both gotten their heads back in place - Gohan landed easily at the Capsule Corp door and went inside. His gi was a little worn - he'd been needing another new one soon - but still mostly in one piece as he habitually headed into the kitchen and started digging in the fridge for something to eat. At first, this part had been really weird (you didn't just take another Saiyan's food, after all) but he'd gotten used to it in time. The routine was simple. Come from whatever remote location he'd been training at with Piccolo, feed himself, and wait to be collected by Vegeta for  _their_ training session. Every Saturday, without fail.

Today his mind kept wandering to that flash of - whatever it was. It made him blush every time he thought of it, that was for sure, and he still wasn't sure where the notion had come from. It wasn't like he wanted to be with Piccolo. It wasn't like he had a chance even if he did.  _Piccolo isn't interested in me that way, and I'm definitely not interested in him like that either. Definitely not._

Vegeta came in while he was hunched over the table eating his lunch, swinging open the fridge door and pulling out a whole ham that he immediately began to tear into. Then he paused, looking over Gohan appraisingly. It had been four years since the brat's victory over Cell ... and also four years since Kakarot had made his imbecilic decision to  _stay dead_. Vegeta had gone through his own anger over that; the brat had to have more than a few issues over his father's death and the fact that Kakarot had clearly intended to lay  _everything_ on his shoulders. Still, he seemed to be behaving normally today ... maybe four years was enough time to let go of that shit.  _Like hell it is. The fucking idiot should have known better._

He remained quiet until they were done eating; there was no reason to interrupt their meal with idle chatter. Not that Vegeta ever wanted anything to do with pointless talk - he was like the brat's other mentor in that. When they were done, he just grunted and motioned for Gohan to follow to the Gravity Room. He fully expected for today to be interesting.

Turning the gravity up higher than usual, Vegeta turned to his current student and crossed his arms. "Fingertip pushups." There was no reason for more words than that, and Vegeta stood with his feet shoulder-width apart as he watched the brat begin his workout. It seemed like he'd gone harder with the Namek than usual; maybe there was some anger to feed on in there. It was when the brat reached deep down and let his rage out that the real damage got done ... and that his real power showed. Power that Vegeta knew, as much as he hated to admit it, exceeded his own.  _Which was why Kakarot was so sure that his brat could handle anything else that comes at us_.

For a while he directed Gohan through his workout - exercises based on gaining strength while still retaining agility and flexibility - and then he let the brat have a moment to cool down. Then - "I suppose you want to leave early for the parade."

Gohan's head snapped up. The boy was leaning against the wall, arms folded and one boot braced against the surface behind him; the look on his face made it clear that he hadn't had any clue that there was a parade in West City today. Idly, Vegeta noted that the brat's hair had made it past his shoulders, falling loose in a way that reminded him vaguely of Raditz. It was almost ironic, seeing as Raditz coming in to find his baby brother was what had started Gohan in as a martial artist in the first place.

"They're having one of those  _stupid_ parades here, too?" he asked, somewhere between angry and appalled. Gohan tried to take a shaky breath but flushed red in anger as his rage slowly built. That was what Vegeta wanted ... to test where the boy was when he let himself go. Not that he seemed like he intended to let loose ... "I thought it was just in Satan City." His eyes fell closed and he leaned his head against the wall, struggling to stay under control.  _But that's not what we want here_.

"Oh, they're in all the major cities, and some smaller towns and villages as well. By stealing your victory, this  _Satan_ has parades celebrating him all over the world. No mentions of you, or Kakarot - no, it's total disrespect to your father's memory." It was all carefully calculated to further infuriate the brat. Vegeta could see the anger bubbling up and suppressed his smirk. Maybe he'd be hit the right chord to pull a reaction out of Gohan. Now if only he could elicit the reaction he wanted ...

Gohan kept fighting to keep himself under control, but he was slipping. Everything about him gave away his emotional state, from his posture to his facial expression to the tension in his muscles. He'd gained some muscle, still lean, but more defined and a little heavier in his build since he'd started training with Vegeta. Piccolo was doing a good job of making sure that he remained limber; however, at the moment the brat's muscles were bunched and tight, strength and anger mutually displayed in his form.

"Of course they are," Gohan hissed, the vein in his neck bulging out as he continued (frustratingly) to keep his anger reined in. "I should have expected that." He was struggling to push his feelings down, to reject his rage.

"You're going, then?" Vegeta asked cockily. He was enjoying himself as he pushed the brat's buttons, although it wasn't working quite as effectively as he'd hoped. While he was visibly furious, Kakarot's brat was keeping things tightly reigned in. Which meant changing tactics, and he brought a knee up into the undefended stomach of his student. "Of course you don't care. Why would it matter to you that your victory's been stolen, and your father's memory has been dishonored? You just go along trying to be more  _human_."

The young demi-Saiyan coughed and wheezed as he doubled over, struggling to catch his breath. "Don't you  _dare_ say I don't care!" he hissed out as he straightened, recovering from the underhanded blow quickly. "I've been fighting to deal with this for  _four years_ , and I'm the  _only_  one who actually cares! Mom just tries to move on, Goten never even  _met_  Dad, and everybody else says things like how they're respecting his wishes. At least Piccolo understands -" He broke off, a pained look on his face like he'd somehow said too much. Vegeta had no idea why; it made perfect sense for those two to have been sitting around talking about the brat's  _feelings_.

"As stupid as they are, those  _are_ his _wishes_ ," Vegeta continued cruelly. He knew he was hurting the boy, but he didn't care. The means were more than justified by the ends, and besides, the kid was at least part Saiyan. He was tough enough to deal with this, and he'd be tougher for it once he was through. "The oaf decided to die. He decided to stay dead. And he did it without considering how it would affect anyone else. He was a warrior through and through, and he died a warrior's death."

"I  _know_ that!" the teenage brat yelled. "I know what he did, and I fucking know that if I had just  _done what he said_ and killed Cell when I had the chance, then he wouldn't have died in the first place!" He was breathing heavily, his hands balled as he corralled his emotions. They  _were_ coming out finally, but definitely not in the way that Vegeta had expected. There was a lot more grief and self-loathing than there was the anger at Kakarot that he'd expected - that he'd experienced himself, and still did on the odd day here and there. "It's  _my fault_ and I know it."

That was not at all what Vegeta had expected, and he pulled back from his mostly verbal assault on the boy. He had  _not_ expected this at all, and now that it was out in the open it was making the Prince highly uncomfortable. He'd been prepared for rage; self-loathing and self-recrimination, not so much. It was awkward, it was vexing, and it was  _completely_ inappropriate. Kakarot's brat had defeated Cell; he should be proud in his victory! His voice sharper than usual, Vegeta commanded, "Stop sniveling and take pride in what you did!"

"Pride?" Gohan asked, his anger turning viciously towards this new target. "It's always pride with you. What should I be proud of? Of losing control of myself? Of  _toying_ with Cell? Of failing to do what my father had  _faith_ in my ability to do until it was too late?" He sounded hysterical toward the end, and he slammed a fist back into the wall of the Gravity Room, denting it slightly. "I have  _nothing_ about that day to be proud of."

Vegeta stared, highly discomfited and not at all certain how to deal with this. After a moment, he shut down the generator that ran the Gravity Room, the chamber's hum falling silent. "Go. And get your head together - I expect you back next week. If I have to come to drag you out of that little shack I'm going to be very displeased."

Gohan stared for a moment, mouth agape, and then turned and ran through the halls of Capsule Corp. As soon as he was outside, he rocketed into the sky and back home.

* * *

He hadn't come down for dinner; for once in his life - possibly the first time ever - Gohan simply wasn't hungry. His stomach was churning, and he had listlessly worked on homework and tried to read something just to pass the time. He was still worked up when he heard the distinct footsteps of his sensei making his way up the stairs. He didn't want to face him; at the same time, he was desperate to see him. It might have only been since this morning, but the encounter with Vegeta had shaken him ... and he knew that Vegeta meant what he'd said about dragging Gohan out for their next session.

Piccolo knocked, and Gohan took a deep breath to try to study himself before responding. "Come in."

The tall, broad-shouldered Namekian came in and shut the door behind him, looking over Gohan for a long moment before leaning against the door with arms crossed. "I hear you didn't eat dinner tonight."

"Uh huh."

Another pause, then tentative words. "Did that have anything to do with - whatever happened this morning?" He was clearly as confused by Gohan's reaction to having Piccolo that close as the demi-Saiyan himself was.

"No! No. That was - I don't know what that was." He blushed again. "I, uh - Vegeta brought up Dad. Kept telling me to be proud of myself." The crimson in his cheeks darkened and spread, his face turning angrily away from his mentor. "It was just a rotten afternoon."

The Namekian growled softly, protective and maybe a touch possessive. The kid was his after all, not that he could define that. There was a lot about their relationship that defied classification. "You don't have to go back to him."

"Yes, I do," Gohan sighed. "If I didn't want to do this all I had to do was refuse him in the first place, and I don't think that he'll do something like what he did today again. He looked kind of freaked out by how I reacted." He made a slightly pained face. "Probably not a Saiyan enough reaction for him. Dende, I was almost as bad as I was that first year."

Piccolo growled again, a little louder, showing his fangs furiously. "I have half a mind to go down there myself and _deal_ _with him_."

Gohan gave a weak little smile. "I really love you, Piccolo. You're always there for me. My best friend." Then he sighed, shaking his head. "Sit with me and talk some? I just need to work through this all again, then we can meditate." He ducked his head in embarrassment as Piccolo promptly took a seat next to him on the bed. More shyly than he used to - and at the same time boldly, since he'd been letting Piccolo decide when they would share contact like this - Gohan grasped his mentor's hand, his pale fingers interlocking with the bold green taloned fingers of the Namekian. "I really appreciate this. I'm so sorry I keep having to go back through this. I should be over this by now."

"There's nothing to apologize for, kid." The Namekian felt a little odd at Gohan saying he loved him, despite the fact he clearly meant it platonically. (Was that what he wanted, or was it not?) "Getting through something like this takes as long as it takes, and no one can say what you feel is wrong. And like you said - I'm always here for you. Because I want to be." He squeezed Gohan's hand, claws pressing against tender flesh, and let the young demi-Saiyan talk as long as he needed to.


	12. It's My Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Videl, Sharpner, and Erasa take Gohan out for his sixteenth birthday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> According to my research, the age where you're allowed to do a lot of things (drinking, etc) in Japan is 20. I'm using this.

Going out on the town was hardly Gohan's idea of a good time, but his school friends had been persistent. As such, he was dressed in a pair of dark jeans and a black tank top, letting the others (mostly Videl) lead him around to all the 'fun' spots in the city. He hadn't dared to eat a great deal at the buffet, but the arcade had been fun. Then they'd somehow wound up at some club or other where the bouncer was so enamored of _Hercule Satan's daughter_ that he'd let Videl and her friends in no questions asked, and nevermind that they were all four and five years too young to be there.

Gohan was expecting the same issues he'd had at the first (and only) high school party he'd attended: flashing lights, pounding noise, and the overwhelming smell of writhing bodies everywhere. Plus there'd surely be those chemical smells, both of 'clean' places and of people trying to attract mates with artificial scents. That was one thing he appreciated about his friends - Videl never wore anything scented past her light, fresh soap and Erasa and Sharpner kept their choices subtle ones. Mostly the three of them just smelled like themselves, which was nice.

He found himself pleasantly surprised when they walked into the club. The chemical smells he'd expected were there, but not heavy enough to give him a headache, and the lights were low with a pleasant thrum of music that was quiet enough to hold a conversation but loud enough to keep things private. It was actually kind of nice, and Gohan couldn't help the vague thought that Piccolo might like a place like this. Not too loud, not overly stimulating in other unpleasant ways, and nobody seemed to be staring - and there were definitely people here at  _least_ as offbeat as his mentor.

"Wow, 'Del, how did you find this place?" He grinned at her, friendly, acknowledging her hard work.

"I thought you'd like it," Videl answered with a smirk, not actually answering the question. "I told you it'd be fine if you brought Piccolo."

"I kinda wish I had; he might actually have liked it here." Maybe he could bring his mentor some other time;  _he_ was twenty and old enough to get in on his own. And given Gohan's physique and overall appearance, with the right clothes to make him appear more mature, he could be mistaken for twenty, too ...

"Erasa would have loved to see him," Videl said faux-innocently, her eyes cutting over to the blonde, who blushed a pretty shade of pink. Gohan blinked; was Erasa really still into Piccolo after not seeing him for a year? Of course, if anyone was worth holding out for, it was definitely Piccolo!

"Really, Videl!? You just  _have_ to bring that up." Apparently the pink was at least a little from anger. Her expression softened a little. "You really should bring him around more when we hang out, Gohan. We're you're friends, he's your friend, you shouldn't keep us all separate!"

"He's really private," Gohan said defensively. Piccolo didn't let anyone in like he did Gohan, and he didn't do much in the way of recreational 'hanging out' like Gohan's school friends did. He paused for a moment; Erasa was right that Piccolo should at least be  _invited_ whenever he was spending time with his other friends. "I'll make sure he knows he's invited whenever we do stuff, okay?"

Erasa squealed and threw her arms around Gohan, which he tolerated. Her perfume might be subtle, but it was still a lot when it was right under his nose. "Erasa, if you keep trying to touch him like you did last time, he's never gonna want to come."

The blonde girl sighed and pouted, pulling back. "I guess you're right. He's just so  _dreamy_."

That had Gohan blushing as he slipped into his place at the round booth they were seated at. These dotted the side of the club that wasn't the dance floor, low backed but still somehow private. His mind was suddenly on long and taloned fingers that never hurt him, on deft and shockingly gentle hands, on lengthy elegant limbs, on broad shoulders and a trim waist, on private little smiles just for him, on the slightest flash of fang -

Coughing awkwardly, Gohan tried to banish the word 'dreamy' from any description of Piccolo. "See, that's the sort of thing that'll make him uncomfortable. Just - be friendly. If he does decide to come around, that is."

Videl didn't miss the demi-Saiyan's blush; it reinforced her theory, but for the moment she didn't push about it. "Drinks?"

"Sure!" Gohan said, glad for the change of topic. "Just order me whatever you're having, 'Del, okay?"

Why did that make her heart constrict awkwardly? "Sure, sure. Let's get this party  _really_ started."

* * *

Having never drunk before, the newly sixteen-year-old demi-Saiyan had lost track of how much he was having to drink. When the party wandered out of the club, Gohan was weaving slightly and supported between Videl and Sharpner. His friends were intending to call it a night, but something caught Gohan's eye, a neon sign above a slender shopfront, the lights still on inside the building. His eyes lit up, and he pointed out the building with exaggerated care. "Let's go  _there_."

His friends exchanged looks. "Gohan," Sharpner pointed out, "we're still too young for that."

"So?" His words were only  _slightly_ slurred. "'Del can work her 'my dad killed Cell' magic. I'm  _sure_ they'll do it!"

"You really want a tattoo?" Erasa asked dubiously.

"It's  _my birthday_ , I can get a tattoo if I want one!" He was too far gone for the thought that his mother would kill him (possibly literally) to cross his mind.

"Fine," Videl snapped. "Come on, if you want to be an idiot you can be. Come on." With that, she led them over to the tattoo parlor, leaning on the counter and working some sort of verbal judo that ended in the artist agreeing to do Gohan's tattoo. "There you go, Gohan. Tell the man what you want."

Grabbing a piece of paper, Gohan drew what he wanted. Drunk or not, his hand was steady and the design he wanted was perfectly rendered on the page. "I want it right here," he said, placing his right hand over his outer shoulder. "Just black, I want it simple."

Videl looked at the paper and raised her eyebrows, her lips thinning, but said nothing. It was his birthday and he was allowed to be an idiot, but he also had to live with it. Oh, well. At least it would be an easy to hide tattoo.

Within a few moments, Gohan was in the tattoo artist's chair with his shirt off, watching as the artist prepared his skin for the actual process of tattooing. Gohan found the whole thing fascinating - extremely fascinating, given that he was probably too drunk to properly respond to the process. And when the stencil went on, he watched every line to make sure it was perfect. He'd been familiar with this symbol for most of his life, and he knew  _exactly_ how it was supposed to look.

"Hey - not like that," he interrupted. "This part goes like  _this_ ," he corrected, demonstrating with a fingertip. "I _need_ you to get this right," he said a little too enthusiastically.

The tattoo artist looked annoyed but made sure that the stencil was a  _perfect_  replica of Gohan's well-drawn symbol. Once the outline was on Gohan's skin, he got his tattoo gun and black ink, starting with a crisp outline. The outer circle with its points at the four cardinal directions of the shape was paid special attention to, as was making sure that each and every stroke was perfectly placed. Then he started to fill the careful outline with deep black, Gohan accepting the pain with the long practice of one who has faced pain and worse since he was a small child.

The tattoo built, crisp and clear on his fair skin until finally the tattoo artist cleaned up the inky skin and pulled back. "Well? What do you think?" He held out a mirror to help his young client see his work.

Gohan craned his neck, then laughed as he saw the mirror being held out to him. At last, he took it, the demi-Saiyan used the mirror to get a good look at his new skin art. It took him a minute to realize the image was backward because it was in a mirror, and then he grinned broadly at the new ink. "It's  _perfect_."

"Glad you like it," the artist said briskly as he covered the new piece of art with plastic. "Here's a copy of the aftercare instructions. Now sit still and let me explain them to you. I need you to  _listen_ , kid, all right?"

The demi-Saiyan blinked drunkenly, a little thrown by being called 'kid' by someone other than Piccolo. Oh, it wasn't like it never happened, especially with being the youngest Z-Fighter (unless you counted Trunks and Goten, which he didn't yet). It was just that he associated that particular moniker with Piccolo, just like he associated Vegeta with being called 'brat'. "I can listen, definitely. I don't wanna mess this up. It's important."

Videl raised her eyebrow. The symbol of Ma Junior - which tugged at her mind as meaning something else, too, for some reason - was  _important_ to him. Important enough that he'd drunkenly gotten it tattooed on his left shoulder. She already knew about the whole best friend slash mentor thing that Gohan would admit to, but this _really_ seemed like something more ... loverly. Like a dumb kid getting a tattoo for his boyfriend. It made her wonder what was really going on between the green maybe-demon and her friend. Surely  _something_ was; you didn't get your best friend's symbol tattooed on you, after all. At least, a boyfriend was far more likely.

"All right," the drunk alien-human hybrid said excitedly, his new art paid for by his friends who insisted they split the cost since it was his birthday. "What do we want to do next?"

"I think it's time for us to head back to my place," Videl said carefully. "We can watch movies until we fall asleep." Which she doubted would be long for Gohan, who obviously had no ability to hold his liquor.  _Was this his first time drinking or something_?

"That sounds great!" he agreed. Thankfully. "Let's  _go_!"

Yep. Definitely his first time. Oh, well, at least he seemed to be having fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, uh, I like tattoos. Symbolically. Like my own is a semicolon on my pulse. _Symbolism_. Most of the time when I write in a tattoo it has meaning. This one is obvious to everybody but Gohan, mhm.


	13. The Hangover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When demi-Saiyans get drunk, they have to suffer the consequences like everyone else.

There was an annoying amount of sunlight coming through unfamiliar windows and on top of the pounding headache he'd discovered he felt like something had crawled up in his mouth and died. He was nauseous, too - not a position Gohan (or anyone with Saiyan blood, as far as he knew) often found himself in. Add that to the fact that there was something white and flaky at the corner of his mouth where he'd been drooling on the leather couch he'd passed out on, and the sixteen-year-old was fully miserable. Also, his left arm hurt, like one of the Z-Fighters had punched him in the shoulder.

Turning his head, he saw a square of plastic wrap taped on his shoulder. Where the hell had his shirt ended up? Gingerly peeling off the plastic, he saw his new tattoo staring at him like a mute reproach.  _Right. I went and got Piccolo's symbol tattooed on my shoulder. Because that was really smart of me and isn't going to be awkward to explain at all_.

Levering himself up into a seated position, Gohan scrubbed at his mouth with the back of his hand and - as loud as he could manage without making his headache worse - asked, "Does anybody know where I put my shirt?"

"No clue," Sharper mumbled sleepily. "Not like anyone's objecting to you having your shirt off. Just  _damn_." This was all said with the blonde's eyes half opened and his long hair mussed from sleep; apparently whatever eyeful Sharpner had gotten the night before was enough for him to comment now without needing to get another eyeful. Gohan blushed; he didn't think he'd ever had anyone openly comment on his appearance like that before. It was weird. But flattering. But definitely weird.

"Uh ... thanks?" He looked down at his defined chest and stomach, the cleanly cut and well-developed muscles that made up his form. Between his paternity and the fact that he actually had been training for the last three plus years, especially with his strength-focused sessions with Vegeta as a counterpoint to his skill and agility focused ones with Piccolo, he supposed that he shouldn't be surprised that someone might find him attractive ... but he  _definitely_ was completely shocked. He spotted the paper with the information about how to care for his new tattoo and picked it up in an attempt to be less awkward. "I, uh, don't remember much after the tattoo parlor."

"That's because you didn't  _do_ much after that," Sharpner answered, stretching from his own place on an air mattress. "We got back to Videl's, you ate like  _everything_ , and then you passed out on the couch. Mumbling something about  _tails_ of all things. Dende, haven't you ever drunk before?"

"Uh, no. And I didn't realize what Videl ordered us had alcohol in it at first, but by the time I figured that out I didn't really  _care_?" He shrugged, his eyes scanning the page of instructions about his tattoo. "Um. How much did I eat?"

"Pretty much everything in 'Del's fridge. I have no idea where you  _put_ it all. It was insane, Gohan. I've never seen  _anyone_ eat like that."

Shit. At this rate, everyone was going to figure out that he was half-alien, and he didn't see that going particularly well. "Guess I was hungry."

"You guess -  _fuck_ , Gohan." Sharpner shook his head, rolling over onto his stomach and propping himself up on his elbows. "You're hiding shit from us. I know Videl's usually the suspicious one, but you weren't hiding whatever it is very well last night - and I'm  _not_ talking about that tattoo." His eyes went to it pointedly, then returned to Gohan's face. "When the girls get down, it's probably time for you to fess up."

Gohan groaned. "Can't this wait until I feel less like death?" He might not have actually ever died, but he was certainly familiar enough with it. He'd seen death the first time when he was four, seen his father and his mentor die before his eyes more than once. "It's a little complicated."

"No way you're wiggling out of this," Sharpner said firmly, "although we can see if we can get you some breakfast, and a lot of water. Maybe something for that headache you've undoubtedly got, too."

"That sounds  _wonderful_ ," Gohan sighed in relief. He folded up his aftercare instructions and tucked them in his pocket, then followed Sharpner to the kitchen.

By the time the girls came down, Gohan had a ridiculous plate of eggs and bacon in front of him, as well as a large glass of water that had already been refilled three times. The girls eyed him curiously as they took their own places for much smaller breakfasts, and Gohan cleared his throat awkwardly. "I guess you two want answers, too."

"Uh, yeah," Erasa said, rolling her eyes. "It's like you were someone else. What have you been hiding, Gohan?"

Yeah, that. "Okay, well ... I might as well explain about Piccolo too. You see, we were both born on Earth, but ... neither one of us is human."

"Big shocker," Videl snapped. "Piccolo could never pass for human."

Gohan rolled his eyes. "I  _know_ , but there's plenty of other types of Earthlings. Anyway, we had something in common even before we met. We're both aliens. Piccolo's a Namekian, and I'm ... well, I'm half human on my mother's side, and my father was a Saiyan. I inherited a lot from him - increased strength, higher metabolism (which is why I've got a ridiculous appetite), I even used to have a tail, but it got cut off when I was four. Then again when I was four. And when I was five. It stopped growing back after that but I don't know if it still  _can_ or not? I guess my dad had his grow back when he was about my age ..." He cleared his throat. "See, that's the big secret." Or at least one of them; he doubted Videl would appreciate the whole 'and I killed Cell' bit, and he wasn't about to out the other Z-Fighters for being what they were. "I'm a human-alien hybrid and ... well, I'm really strong. I was still holding back when I beat you, Videl. You've got a lot of potential, but I've been doing this since I was four and I've got a genetic advantage." He laughed awkwardly. "That's the secret. That my dad was a member of a mostly-extinct warrior race, and  _I'm the strongest_."

Ugh, he was babbling so badly. He was pretty sure it was just the awkwardness and not that he was still drunk, but even with his hangover receding he wasn't seeming to be able to make smart decisions here. At least he hadn't mentioned anything that wasn't his to tell, except for the fact that Piccolo was a Namekian. Then again, they already knew that he wasn't human and there was no point in holding back the name of what he was. After all, it didn't  _actually_ give them any information past that. Shifting awkwardly, he waited for someone to say  _something_.

"Bullshit." Videl was apparently unamused by the end of the night before and wasn't having any shit from Gohan this morning. "You just are trying to cover up for acting so weird last night."

"No, really." Gohan hopped up, turning his back to his friends and unbuttoning his jeans so that he could pull them down just enough to show the round scar where his tail used to be. "I don't have a tailbone or anything, either, because I actually  _had a tail_." He scratched the scar absently; all this talk about it was making it itchy. "Anything else you wanna test?" he asked as he did his pants back up. "I mean, you already saw how much I can eat."

Videl glared, then jerked her head towards a door out of the kitchen. "Come on, Dad's got this machine to test how hard you punch."

"Uh, how high does it go? I don't want to break it, but maybe I could see how close I can get to making it max it out?"

Videl gave him a look. "It goes to one thousand pounds per square inch. You're not going to break it."

"I _could_ , but I don't want to get you into trouble with your dad or anything," Gohan said matter of factly. "Lead the way and I'll aim for one thousand."

'Del lead the other three through the house into a private gym. Gohan, used to the Gravity Room, wasn't impressed by the shiny (but obviously oft-used) equipment here. She took them straight through everything else to the punching machine. Gesturing to Gohan, she said, "Go for it."

Gohan took a moment to take a breath and carefully gauge his strength. He had meant it when he said he didn't want to break Videl's father's strength-measuring machine. Finally, he settled on a one-inch punch, taking great care not to make it too strong. 'MAX' flashed on the screen in red letters. "Happy? I can hit a lot harder than that, but ... like I said, we don't want to break anything." They all were gaping at him, and Gohan blushed. "Uh, I did say I was strong?"

" _How_ strong?" Erasa asked with a sort of airheaded wonder in her voice and painted on her face.

"Well, that's kinda hard to pinpoint," Gohan said with an awkward laugh, one hand at the back of his long black hair. "I've never used any sort of number system or anything. Obviously, I'm stronger than -" he broke off before saying  _Cell_ , but was unsure how to finish the sentence. "Um, I'm stronger than any of my teachers, even Mr. Piccolo. I train with people who have more skill and experience than I do, not raw strength, yeah?"

Videl was still watching him suspiciously. "Uh huh. Well, why don't we get back to breakfast?" She hadn't expected to be so upset by this; how was he ever going to notice her if she was so much _weaker_ than he was. She was going to have to train - to get stronger. Maybe then he'd see her as something other than just a friend.

"Finishing breakfast sounds good," Gohan said, relieved. It was Sunday; once he was done eating he needed to go home and get in his gi, then go to train with Piccolo. Fuck, how was he going to hide his tattoo from his mentor? He did  _not_ want to deal with that right now.

Before long he was done and wished everyone a good day and headed off to home without his shirt. He was no closer to figuring something out, but he had the whole flight home to work it out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> His shirt's at the tattoo parlor. Just in case you're wondering.


	14. Can't Hide It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nothing stays hidden for long.

Aware his mother would object if he ducked into the house shirtless, Gohan slipped in through his window and went straight over to take a quick shower. Dropping the rest of his clothes on the floor, he pulled out the aftercare instructions to take them into his small bathroom and stick them on the mirror. He definitely wanted to be careful with his tattoo, even if he expected it to cause problems of one sort or another.  _Mom's going to kill me, and I have **no** idea what Piccolo's going to think._ It had been an all-around bad drunken decision, and now he was going to have to face the music.

Digging around in his dresser, Gohan found a shirt about the same color and weight of his undershirt, but with sleeves that fell almost to his elbows. As he got dressed, he pulled that shirt on instead of his usual undershirt. It would at least keep his mother from seeing the tattoo on the way out the door, although he doubted he'd be slipping it past Piccolo. All he could hope for was that Piccolo wouldn't entirely reject the tattoo that Gohan wasn't quite sure what he'd meant by getting. Dressed for the morning, Gohan headed downstairs for a little more breakfast before he headed out.

"I didn's hear you come in," Chi-Chi said firmly the second that her older son's boots hit the bottom stair.

Gohan winced slightly at that tone but kept his own light and easy as he rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "You must have just missed me, Mom. I'm running late this morning, so if I could just eat my breakfast -"

"You  _weren't_ in your _bed_ last night," Chi-Chi said sharply, standing to turn her judgemental gaze on her sixteen-year-old.

"We got caught up celebrating and wound up sleeping in Videl's living room. Well, Sharpner and I did - Videl and Erasa slept in Videl's room. I had a  _small_ breakfast over there, and then came over to get dressed for my training session this morning." He  _still_ hadn't completely gotten over his hangover, unfortunately. "I really would appreciate some more breakfast before I go? But I really am running late."

His mother's lips thinned, but she couldn't quite seem to find an actual objection. "Fine. Breakfast's on the table."

"Thanks, Mom," he said, grinning and dashing into the kitchen before she could change her mind. He practically bolted down the second three-quarters of his breakfast so that he could get out the door before she could either manage to spot his new body art or try to stop him from going to meet Piccolo.

Once he was done, Gohan called out a farewell and hurried out the door, immediately launching into the air. He cast his inner senses around for his mentor and found him ... at the grassy area in the mountainous region where they'd first met. Huh. That was oddly nostalgic of the Namekian, but Gohan was quick to make his way to the place where his teacher was waiting for him before setting down lightly near a meditating Piccolo.

Awkwardly, rubbed his arm where the tattoo hid under his sleeve, wondering if he should join Piccolo or wait until he was done. His little drunken adventure blended with his still fading hangover and his self-consciousness  ~~~~over his new tattoo had him far more uncertain than he usually was around his best friend.

Thankfully, it wasn't long before Piccolo opened his eyes and resituated himself on his feet. "You're late."

"Yeah, I am, sorry," Gohan said in obvious embarrassment, rubbing the back of his head in a habit that might as well have been genetic. "Going out with my school friends for my birthday went later than I thought it was going to. You might have actually liked the club Videl picked out, it wasn't too loud or anything, but Erasa still, uh,  _likes_ you. They all think I should bring you along more often. If you ever want to come along for things like that, that is."

Piccolo gave his babbling student an odd look. "I don't exactly blend in, kid." He was seven and a half feet tall with pink and green skin, antenna, and both fangs and claws. He stuck out badly enough to make the proverbial sore thumb blend in.

"I don't care," Gohan said earnestly. "I never have, you know. I don't want you to feel like you have to do anything or come with me anywhere, but if you want to - I really don't care that you stand out a bit." In fact, a lot of the things that were popping up in those new, distracting thoughts he kept having about Piccolo were decidedly inhuman. The fangs hidden behind green lips, the rare purple blush, truly fascinating pointed ears ...  _the whole package_. As confusing and unwanted as these thoughts were, they did emphasize the fact that Gohan would never want to change a thing about his sensei.

As if thinking it conjured it, a tiny flush of purple stained the apples of Piccolo's cheeks briefly. "I'll remember that the next time you invite me somewhere," he said gruffly, getting his blush under control. Gohan certainly wished he could do that; his own blushes were far harder to command. "You know where to start."

He did. Gohan immediately moved into stretches and other warmup exercises, getting his body ready for the next several hours. That soon transitioned into their actual training session, and the demi-Saiyan couldn't imagine any time when he was happier than when he was with Piccolo, working one on one. It didn't matter if they were training or meditating or talking or just  _being close_  ... Piccolo made him happy like no one else could.

_Maybe that's why I keep fantasizing about being just a little closer to him. Maybe I just wish that he'd realize he doesn't have to be as stiff as he still is around me ... although gods know that he's a lot freer around me than he is around anyone else._

Their spar got more intense, moving from purely physical to using ki.  _Lightly_ , they obviously weren't trying to kill each other or anything, but the ki blasts were high enough in power for them to tatter clothing and sting in reproach for failing to block or otherwise deal with them. Mostly neither of them got any hits in; they were both good at deflecting or destroying the blasts. Honestly, at this point this particular exercise, while kept up to a level that was challenging for both of them, was a lot of fun.

What happened next wasn't terribly uncommon, unfortunately. Gohan got cocky, and when he crossed his arms in front of his face to deflect a ki blast he caught it on his left side instead. It didn't damage him at all, but it destroyed the upper left portion of his gi top and makeshift undershirt. His left shoulder was completely exposed, and Piccolo was nowhere near unobservant. In fact, Gohan generally appreciated how observant his master was, but right now it was just awkward.

Because Piccolo had stopped their exercise and was staring in consternation at the tattoo that Gohan had gotten the night before.

"What," the Namekian asked unnecessarily in a clipped voice, "is that?" His tone made it clear that he  _bloody well knew what that was_ , but was hoping for any answer - any at all! - besides the one he'd already landed on.

"Uh, a tattoo?" Gohan answered nervously. As he'd previously noted, he had far less control of his blushes than Piccolo did; his face was red and his expression a blend of mortification and an awkward hope that this would go well. Or at least not awfully. He'd settle for today being  _not awful_. "I _might_ not have tasted the alcohol in my drink last night, and the others didn't realize I hadn't drunk before so they didn't warn me and ... I got a tattoo." Because that was just awesome, for him to have drunkenly gotten a tattoo of his teacher's symbol. At least he hadn't done anything more embarrassing than that. 

"You got a tattoo -  _that_ tattoo - while you were drunk last night."

"Uh huh," he confirmed. "At least I didn't get anything I'm going to regret. I could have done a lot worse considering that I was drunk enough that I couldn't find my shirt this morning." Gohan didn't like how that had sounded. "What I mean is, if I was ever going to get a tattoo, this is the one I'd get anyway." That was even worse in its way; it sounded like he was saying too much, and his blush reinvigorated itself.

That struck them both into silence and for a long moment they just stood there, Piccolo trying to read Gohan's expression while Gohan blushed and refused to meet his mentor's eye. He might as well have told Piccolo  _everything_ , and there was still a chance that the Namekian would manage to drag the rest of it out of him. After all, it wasn't like his tattoo choice was at all subtle, and Piccolo was smart enough to figure out that there was more to it than just - the obvious. Especially since Gohan was blushing hard enough for that alone to be a confession.

"Why," Piccolo growled, "did you pick my symbol to  _permanently mark your body_?"

Yeah, this was definitely not going well. Gohan swallowed, still blushing, and tried to put it into words that didn't include 'and by the way I keep fantasizing about cuddling with you for no reason except that we can'. "Well - why not? You're my best friend, my  _first_ friend. For a long time, you were my only friend. You're my master, my first teacher. I care more about you than I do about anyone else -" He broke off, feeling as though his face might catch fire. What else could he possibly say about this? He cared deeply for Piccolo and had for a long time; it really shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that he'd gone and done this. There was a decent chance he eventually would have done it anyway, drunk or not. Shyly, Gohan reached up to lightly run his fingers over the new ink. He didn't know how to explain his decision better than he had, and he just wanted to be free to give his mentor all the affection he had for him without anyone questioning  _why_ he cared so much.

Piccolo was silent again, his eyes narrowed to slits as he looked at his student. It wasn't as though he felt particularly different from Gohan; he just had a much harder time expressing it. It was true that they were each other's first and dearest friends, that Gohan was his first and only student, that their bond was something true and deep ... but seeing that permanently drawn on his protege's skin wasn't something he'd expected. He'd always expected Gohan to eventually leave him, especially since he'd started high school and begun spending time with people other than him. But this - it was so immutable that Piccolo was having trouble processing it.

"You'll regret that eventually," Piccolo finally said, his voice hard.

Gohan glared, boldly meeting his sensei's eyes. "No, I won't. If anything I want more of you than I used to, not less."

Then he blushed again, realizing what he'd said. Well, that was out there now, wasn't it? And Piccolo hadn't even had to ask.

Piccolo was once again silent, gobsmacked by his student's confession. Finally, he swallowed hard with his cheeks stained purple. "What do you mean by that?"

The demi-Saiyan shifted nervously, trying to find some way to express himself that wouldn't scare off his mentor. "Sometimes I wish that you were more open to - to being touched. I know you allow me a lot more leeway than you do anyone else, but sometimes I want to just - I don't know, cuddle up and read. Just because we can." At least he didn't have to mention his occasional fantasies about actually  _kissing_ his mentor. He didn't have a clue what to do with his feelings, which were growing more and more affectionate as time went on. He didn't fully understand it, but he wanted to communicate this as clearly as possible. Boldly praying that this would be  _understood_ , he darted carefully forward and taking Piccolo's hand, his slim fingers tangling with his mentor's green ones. "I want to do this just because I feel the way I do about you, and not have it need to mean more than it does. I know it's a lot to ask - I know I shouldn't ask - but that's how I feel. I really care about you, Piccolo, and I want - I don't even know how to put it into words. It's not like I'm suggesting we  _date_ ," he laughed nervously. "Just that we ... I don't know, that we might be a little more than just friends?"

For a long moment, Piccolo was silent. Then, gruffly, he said, "Go home, kid. I need some - I'll talk to you tonight."

That wasn't a no. It wasn't a yes, but Gohan was definitely understanding of Piccolo needing some time to think. "All right. All right, I'll see you tonight. No matter what you decide, I'll be looking forward to seeing you."

Piccolo actually managed a little smile. "I know, kid. Tonight."


	15. Really Can't Hide It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gohan's distracted, and that's not a good thing.

Relieved that Piccolo hadn't taken things  _too_ badly, Gohan wasn't thinking too hard about the condition of his clothes when he wandered back into his house early. He hoped that Piccolo would have come to some sort of understanding when he arrived for their meditation session tonight, but at the very least he could look forward to seeing Piccolo even if it was for his mentor to say that he needed more time to think. Contented for the moment, the teenager went into the kitchen to scrounge up a snack - only to be intercepted by his mother making a dramatic sound as though she might faint and a plate striking the floor and shattering.

_Shit._

"Mom," he said with a tense smile, turning to face her properly as though the most important thing he'd been up to lately was grabbing the smallish dinosaur drumstick out of the fridge. "Piccolo and I got done early this morning, so I'm home for the rest of the day. I've got a bit of homework to work on, so I'll just take my snack upstairs and work on that -"

" _Did he do that to you_?" she hissed, too angry for the moment to even yell properly. Chi-Chi grabbed her son by his left bicep, shaking him insistently. "Did that  _demon_ tattoo you!?"

"What? No!" Gohan was appalled that she'd even  _think_ that, and he pulled easily out of her grip. "No, Mom, I got it when I went out with my friends last night. You know, the nice, normal,  _human_ ones? It was completely my idea." He rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "He's been my best friend since I was four, Mom, as well as my teacher." His explanation sounded incredibly lame to his own ears, but he didn't want to get into any of the deeper reasons with his mother. They'd just make Chi-Chi go into even further hysterics. "This is on me, Mom, not Piccolo."

"Why would you  _do_ something like that!" Now came the yelling, and Gohan just flinched a little and took it. "You're too  _young_ to get a tattoo! How did you  _get_ that!?"

"VIdel," he said with a sigh. He didn't  _really_ want to throw her under the bus, but better her than Piccolo. At least he felt  _bad_ about it. "Since her dad's so famous, she can get in a lot of places that we're supposed to be too young for. It's usually just someplace fun to hang out, but last night I insisted that we stop by a tattoo parlor. She only agreed because it was my birthday, so it's not really her fault either. It was my idea, and I'm the one that insisted that we make the stop so I could get it." He sighed. "I  _know_ you don't like him, Mom, but he's always going to be a part of my life. He's still coming over tonight so we can meditate."

"No, he ISN'T!"

Gohan glared with his free hand in a fist on his hip. "Mom, if you don't let him in the front door I'll just let him in another way. He had  _nothing to do with this_. He was just as shocked as you were when he saw it. Why do you think I'm home early? He sent me home because of the tattoo, but he's promised to come by tonight just like normal. You don't have to approve of him for me to still be close to him - and he's been _really good for me_ since Dad died. Since he  _abandoned_ us."

Chi-Chi flinched. "Don't talk like that about your father!" Her face was red and her lips white, her entire visage distorted in anger and tightly suppressed grief. "He  _saved_ us!"

"No, Mom! He tossed me into battle when I was  _eleven_ and decided to leave things up to me, except I fucked up and he had to step in and take care of Cell's attempt to self-destruct. Then Cell came back and  _I saved everyone_. Not Dad. Me." He growled briefly, his eyes darting towards the stairs. He did not want to be having this conversation  _again_ , and especially not with his mother. He gritted his teeth; there was nothing else to say that he actually wanted to say to her.

"You -" Chi-Chi seemed to have run out of things to scream at her son. "You go to your room!"

Gohan turned and stalked up the stairs, taking a bite out of his dinosaur leg as he did so. This was what he'd wanted to do in the first place, although he doubted that she remembered that. By the time he got to his room, he felt really bad about fighting with his mother, and a little guilty. Had he picked that fight to deflect her attention from Piccolo and Gohan's new tattoo? Ugh, the whole thing was a mess, and he was still musing moodily over it when he tossed the dino bone in the trash.

* * *

Lunch and dinner both had been eaten in silence, four-year-old Goten looking confused by the chill between his mother and big brother. When he finally was excused from the last meal of the day, Gohan stalked up the stairs to toss open his bedroom window. He really did need to apologize to his mother at some point, but at the same time, he hadn't said anything to her that wasn't strictly speaking _true_. With a deep sigh, Gohan settled onto his bed, leaning his head back against the wall and closing his eyes as he waited in a loose interpretation of the lotus position. He wasn't meditating - just relaxing, or trying to - and his eyes came quickly open when he heard the sound of Piccolo's brown moccasins lightly making contact with the floor.

"How bad were things with your mother?" Piccolo asked gruffly, not looking at his student. Gohan really hoped he was still awkward about their previous conversation because he really didn't want his master to feel guilty about how things had gone that morning.

"Well," he said cavalierly, "we fought about the tattoo, and you, and whether or not you'd forced me to get the tattoo, and Dad, and Cell, and I think the only reason we stopped fighting was that Mom ran out of things to yell at me about." Gohan sighed. "Basically everything that was my choice got blamed on someone else, and it's easier for her to claim that  _Dad_ saved us from Cell than admit that her  _baby boy_ had anything to do with it." He paused. "How was your day?"

Piccolo cleared his throat, standing awkwardly against the wall across from Gohan. "Contemplative." He was loathe to actually talk about this, but he couldn't just leave Gohan hanging forever, either. It wasn't as though the kid was asking for anything entirely unreasonable either - just that they be more relaxed around each other.

 _Relaxed_ was a state that it wasn't particularly easy for Piccolo to achieve. Still, he couldn't deny that they were  _close_ , closer than he'd ever dreamed of being with anyone else. Honestly, his student deserved to have their relationship become a little more relaxed. With concentrated effort, Piccolo uncrossed his arms and tried to release some of the tension from his body.

"You're not - wrong - about us," the Namekian said awkwardly. "It wouldn't be incorrect to say we're more than just friends as things stand; however, I'm not sure how to define that."

"Neither am I," Gohan admitted, shrugging. Dressed in a tank top and pajama pants, he was hyperaware that everything was strained today. "All I know is I enjoy your company - crave it, really. I'd love to do something like - oh, have you pick out one of those books and sit and read together." He blushed even at that innocent request; the way he pictured it definitely did  _not_ involve them sitting politely side by side. "Does - does that sound like something you might enjoy?"

Piccolo paused, then turned to the bookshelf and chose a book of poetry. He hesitated, then came over and sat next to Gohan. Another moment's hesitation and he scooted close enough that their thighs were touching. "I suppose you're going to keep asking for more until I say no," Piccolo said dryly, half-joking.

"Oh, probably," Gohan said cheerfully. He hesitated, then leaned in against Piccolo's shoulder so he could see the book, too. "Is this okay?"

The Namekian stiffened, then slowly forced himself to relax again. "That's fine, kid. We'll find our stride again soon."

More than friends, but something other than lovers. Neither one of them knew really what they meant, but it felt right. It was going to work.


	16. Interlude, Then Start Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time passes and things get comfortable ... until they're not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We've hit the halfway point of this story~! I really want to thank everyone who has come along for the ride this far; it occurred to me last night that the end of the last chapter sounded so _final_ , so this is where there'd be an interlude if I was going to put one in. IDK, find your favorite HanP fanart, remind yourself why you like it so much, and get ready to continue. Until now things have been at a comfortable T-rating, but that's not going to remain the case. Just fair warning. So buckle up and let's go!
> 
> Love for you all, and I hope you enjoy the second half of the fic!

It had been almost seven years since his father had died. The fifth and sixth anniversaries of the Cell Games had passed with angst but also increasing ease, and compared to his previous two birthdays his seventeenth and eighteenth had been unremarkable except in the fact that Piccolo had joined in the (much less drunken) celebrations. Now after more than two years, he was comfortably settled into his whatever-it-was with Piccolo (they always had sort of defied labels) and he was in his final year at Orange Star High. He was doing some reading for school while Piccolo read a book on philosophy; not for the first time, Gohan was living his fantasy of resting his head on Piccolo's thigh as he read; his best friend was even running his elegantly clawed fingers through his long black hair, as though Piccolo had somehow found out and decided to exactly copy one of Gohan's first fantasies about them.

A knock came at the door, and Gohan quickly sat up and affected the appearance that he'd been studying with his book on his lap the whole time. "Come in!"

Goten opened the door and launched himself into the room; it was actually impressive that with that level of energy that the six-year-old had restrained himself until he was invited into the room. He dove between the two figures on the bed, the only one who could actually get away with a move like that and bounced eagerly on the mattress between them. "Guess what guess what guess what!"

"What?" Gohan laughed, ruffling his brother's hair. The boy looked  _just_ like their father, but it never seemed to sting anymore. "You're acting like you've been told you can spend a whole week over at Trunks's house."

"BETTER." Goten spontaneously wrapped his arms around his brother, knowing better than to try to hug Piccolo. Gohan was still the only one who could get away with that. "GUESS WHAT,  _Dad is coming back to see us for one day!_ "

The silence that followed that statement was truly profound, and Goten shrunk into the space between his brother and Piccolo. "That's good, isn't it?"

With a start, Gohan gave his baby brother a broad smile. "It's good, Goten, we're just surprised. He wasn't supposed to be coming back." Gohan had spent so many years working through his guilt and grief and anger - and  _one day_ was only going to make things worse when he was  _finally happy_ ... "Why don't you run downstairs and see if Mom will give you a little extra training? You'll want to show off how much you know when Dad gets here!" Wait. "Do you know when that's gonna be?"

"Tomorrow!" Goten chirped excitedly as he popped down off the bed. "I'm gonna go practice now! If Mom doesn't have time maybe she can take me to Trunks's house; Mr. Vegeta sometimes trains the two of us!" Just like that the little tornado of a child went back out the way he'd come in, even remembering to shut the door behind himself.

Piccolo didn't ask; he just waited.

After a long moment of staring at his AP science book without any comprehension of the words or diagrams on the page. Then he picked it up and tossed it on the floor, leaning heavily back against the wall behind his bed. "One day. He's coming back for  _one day_. How am I supposed to deal with that?"

The Namekian didn't really have an answer for that, other than to place his broad hand between the demi-Saiyans shoulderblades and rub his back gently. He needed to say something ... "You're not supposed to have to deal with something like this," he said finally. Even the dragon balls were unnatural, and they had a cap of one year after a death on bringing someone back. This ... even for one day, it wasn't something he'd ever thought to try to help Gohan prepare for. "All you can do is try to be happy that you get to see your father one last time. And ... if there's anything you feel like you need to say to him ... tomorrow's the time to do it." The kid made him positively verbose and affectionate. Fourteen years ago he would have been disgusted with himself.  _But what a difference that time makes_.

"I have  _so much_ that I want to say to him," Gohan mumbled, his face buried in his hands as he slowly relaxed under Piccolo's soothing touch. "He's only going to be here for one day, though. I can't exactly monopolize him the whole time to yell at him about Cell. I still have no idea what the  _hell_ he was thinking. Even if it worked. At least, it mostly worked."

"He saw your potential and your power, and decided to put all his hope in you," Piccolo answered gruffly. It was still - the kid had been  _eleven_. Although honestly ... hadn't Piccolo done the same thing, training Gohan so that he could throw him into battle at the tender age of five? The similarities between what he'd done and what Goku had done weren't something he liked to think about too much, but right now ... "You forgave me for training you to go into battle against the Saiyans when you were five."

"You weren't  _supposed_ to care about me. You were Dad's enemy. He's my  _father_." Gohan sighed. "He's the one who should have known better, and yet  _you're_ the one who sees that there was something wrong with what you did. I bet he'll just come back and tell me how proud he is of me and have no clue why the whole thing was  _upsetting_ for me. I don't even know if it's worth trying to talk to him. He's not going to understand how I feel. He'll just give me that confused face and ask if I want to spar or something like that."

Piccolo had nothing to say to that, so instead, he just pulled Gohan closer to try to soothe a little of his heartache. He'd been so unsure a little more than two years back when Gohan had first asked for that ill-defined  _more_ , but he was glad now that he'd agreed to it. It felt so very  _right_. "Whatever you need tomorrow," the Namekian said softly, "I'll be here for you."


	17. It's His Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Goku's back! ... Just for one day?

For whatever reason, it had been decided that the best place for Goku's little party was Kame House, despite the fact that the tiny island would be crowded with the Z-Fighters and Gohan's friends who had graciously agreed to come act as human shields for him. He'd even told them they didn't have to interact with anyone else - he knew his Dad's crowd could be overwhelming - but Videl at least seemed eager to meet the champion prior to her father.

Gohan had chosen a ring of beach chairs under a palm that Piccolo was leaning easily against while the rest chatted like any other time they would hang out. Sharpner was shamelessly checking out the fighters (and Bulma) as they arrived, and Erasa was interested enough in Yamcha and Tien to make Gohan feel a little better about her long standing crush on Piccolo. The others started a quiet game of human or not while waiting for Goku to arrive at noon, and finally, Gohan was forced to answer.

"Let see," he murmured, going around the crowd in a semi-orderly fashion. "Mom's human, Goten is the same sort of hybrid I am, of course, and so is his best friend there with the purple hair. The short, kind of scary guy with the pointy hair is his dad and the same sort of alien as my father. I actually train with him once a week - I think because he wants me to have pride in our species. He's interesting. Uh, the really short guy is human, his wife is a cyborg, but their daughter is human. The guy with three eyes is mostly human, but I'm honestly not sure about his boyfriend. Some sort of Earthling?"

"They're together?" Erasa was predictably fascinated.

"For as long as I've known them. Now, the guy with the long black hair and blue eyes is also a cyborg - the blonde's twin - and of course Yamcha, Bulma, and Master Roshi are human."

" _The_ Bulma Briefs?" Sharpner asked at the same moment Videl asked, " _The_ Master Roshi? The Turtle Hermit? And wait - Yamcha the baseball star?"

"Yes, yes, and former martial artist and former desert bandit. We're a pretty eclectic bunch."

"More importantly, which ones are single?" Erasa asked wickedly.

"Other than Roshi, and Piccolo and myself?" He glanced around, trying to make sure he was accounting for everyone except the children. "Just Yamcha and Seventeen. Seventeen is the male cyborg. But seriously, Yamcha is older than my dad and even Seventeen is like ten years older than us."

"Doesn't look it," Sharpner said with a smirk. "Talk about twins worth fantasizing about."

"Uh, you do realize a lot of people here have heightened senses, right?"

"Psh, who cares. I'm sure they can take a compliment."

"Most of them, I guess," Gohan grumbled, glancing up at Piccolo, who was steadfastly ignoring the conversation. The demi-Saiyan was jealous; he couldn't get out of this. "Just keep in mind most of them can also put you through a wall without breaking a sweat."

Videl scoffed and waved him off, smiling as she looked around at what she considered to be  _her people_. The junior champion obviously felt at home here, and without checking out the other guests like the blondes were. Of course, she looked like she was itching for a fight, but Videl being Videl that was probably unavoidable.

Then there he was in the middle of the crowd, halo over his head and goofy grin on his face. "And  _that_ is my dad."

He could tell that Videl was excited to meet him, although for once Goku was doing the right thing when it came to the people around him and heading first to his wife and the complete surprised that was his younger son. She'd just have to wait to get to the man that so interested her. Gohan was content to wait, leaning on the strong, steady feeling that was Piccolo's presence.

His friends were eager to watch and talk, and Erasa and Sharpner got into a lively debate about whether Seventeen or Yamcha was better looking. He didn't get the appeal, although he supposed both twin androids had striking eyes. The whole dating thing still made no sense to him. The closest he had experienced even now to real attraction was the occasional fleeting fantasy about kissing Piccolo. Nothing like the crushes the others got.

Finally it was his 'turn'; as he'd been dreading, his father had made guess was through the crowd of loved ones to him. Gohan smiled nervously, drying his hands on his jeans. "Hi, Dad. It's been a while."

"It has. I hear you've been keeping up your training with Vegeta and Piccolo." His eyes went to the others briefly, stopping on Videl. "Are these your friends?"

"Yeah. Erasa, Sharpner, and Videl Satan - Mr. Satan's daughter."

"You've got potential, don't you?" He sounded positively excited. "I wish I could stick around to see what you become with proper training." He seemed to realize then that he had his son to talk to, and he grinned at Gohan. "Do you want to spar? I'd love to see how far you've come. I'm so proud of you already!"

Predictable as it was, that actually made Gohan feel a little better. "Don't you need to say hello to everyone else?"

Goku looked a little crestfallen, but sighed and looked around at his gathered friends. "I supposed so, but I've got twenty-four hours. Maybe we can spar a little later on?"

"I'm sure that we can manage before you have to go - back." He didn't actually know where his father spent his afterlife. He wasn't the type to just sit around in Heaven, so he was probably doing something else. _Training, probably._

"Good!" Appeased on that front, Goku glands that Videl again. "So, is she your girlfriend?" he asked, nudging his son's shoulder - ironically, the one where his tattoo was hidden by his shirt sleeve.

" _No_." Gohan blushed a brilliant scarlet. "Dende, Dad, I don't have a girlfriend. I don't really want one, either. Why would you think that - no, don't answer that. I really don't want to know why you assumed that Videl's my girlfriend." he massaged his temples, wishing he could go off with Piccolo to talk or meditate or do something to calm himself down.

Instead, he continued his conversation with his father. "So is there anything else you're wanting to do while you're back?"

"Well, there's the 25th Budokai ... I was thinking of competing in that."

Of course he was. Gohan had missed out on most of the information about the upcoming tournament, but his _dead father_ knew all about it. "Is everyone signing up?"

"Yeah, I think so," Goku sad looking around at his friends again. "Don't you want to? Goten seems really excited by the prospect."

Not really, no. Gohan, as much as she enjoyed martial arts for the purity of them, had never felt particularly driven to compete or fight. "I guess I could compete. I never have before."

"What about the Cell Games -"

"That doesn't really count, Dad. It's not the same thing at all." He glanced at Videl; that old suspicious look was back.

Maybe he should just tell her, but that seemed cruel.

 "All right," he conceded, "but we all have to start somewhere! I was about your age when I won the 23rd Budokai! And you're old enough for the adult division, right?" Goku clearly wasn't entirely sure how old his eldest was, although at least he was in the ballpark.

"Yeah, I'd be in the adult division. I guess I'll sign up with everybody else."

"That'll be great," Goku said warmly. "I'll see you later, okay? I'm sure we'll have time tonight. I've gotta see if you're still stronger than me!"

"Sure, Dad. See you later!" He sighed as his father went off to talk to whoever was next, and he looked around to see his school friends staring.

Videl, as usual, found her voice first. "What was that about the Cell Games?"

Gohan hesitated, then told her. "You remember the kid with the golden hair? Eleven, lots of muscles?"

"So?"

"That was me. And I won if you want to pretend that it was an actual tournament." He signed again. "It was more a matter of me being told I was our best chance at defeating Cell and then being sent out to fight Cell. My dad died in the battle, but I did eventually win." Definitely, the most fucked up thing to happen to him thus far.

"But my dad -"

"Your dad got swatted into a cliff like he was a fly," he said bluntly. "Sorry to tell you. I didn't think there was any reason to tell you."

Videl glared, crossing her arms and turning away from Gohan. He sighed and got up, going to stand near Piccolo, still with his friends but closer to his mentor.

Gods, he didn't want to be here.

"Are you going to sign up for the tournament, Piccolo? Videl?"

Videl grunted and nodded, and Piccolo was silent for a moment. "Maybe, kid. If I don't, I'll be in the stands."

Gohan couldn't help but smile, glad that Piccolo would be there for him one way or another. That always made everything easier.


	18. After Buu

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the defeat of Buu, everyone is trying to get back to normal.

The tournament was over.  _Everything_  was over, down to the chubby pink creature moving in with the Satans. He could guess why he was standing on the doorstep of that particular residence, his hair braided instead of loose or in a tail like usual, dressed in a tank top and jeans.

The door opened, and Gohan smiled at Videl and let her pull him inside. "Ask whatever you want, 'Del, I'm an open book."

"Yeah,  _now_  you are," Videl groused. "Let's start with the Cell Games and go from there."

"I  don't know what else there is to tell." Gohan shrugged. "We had a warning about the androids from a time-traveling friend," he said, getting through the bare bones, "and yes,  _those_  androids. They switched sides in the end, and for once it had more to do with Krillin than my Dad. We didn't know Cell was coming, but he gave us some time to prepare. We made the most of it, and Dad decided I was the only one with a chance of victory. So I get tossed out to fight - I'm eleven at this point, remember - and I completely lose my head. Because of that Dad has to save us all from Cell blowing up the planet, which his how he died." Yet now, after all these years, he was alive and well and living at home again. "I lost it again and destroyed Cell. Then, when your dad took credit ... we just let him. I was just a kid, I didn't need nor want the fame. I still don't. That's ... basically it."

"So you're the real Hero of the Earth."

"Sort of. Mostly. That time. It's usually my dad or some sort of group effort."

"So you do this sort of thing regularly."

"Um, there was Raditz, and ... hmm. Five times now, if you count my quest at five years old to go to another planet and use  _their_ dragon balls to revive Piccolo and several of the others. We defeated an intergalactic tyrant - that was mostly my dad." He'd already explained about the dragon balls, given he had to explain his dad's sudden liveliness.

"So you seriously run around saving everyone and don't ask for any credit." That was so far from how her father had done things that it was no surprise that she was dubious.

"Yeah. Everybody's got their own reasons for helping out, but mostly ... it's because we can and it has to be done."

Videl shook her head, then took a seat in the living room with Gohan trailing after. He sad close to her, at a comfortable conversational distance.

"So you don't want any of  _this_ ," she stated, waving at the luxuriousness she lived in.

"No. I mean I've been around Capsule Corp since I was five, so honestly, this is isn't that impressive - sorry - and I prefer living out on Mount Paozu anyway."

"Ouch," 'Del said, rolling her eyes. "Country bumpkin." Her tone was teasing.

"And proud of it," Gohan joked.

"Seriously, you're such a good person it's ridiculous." She paused and somehow wasn't awkward when she continued. "Did you mean it when you told your dad you don't want a girlfriend or were you just trying to get him off your back about it?"

"I meant it. There's only one person I've even thought about kissing and -  _woah_ , 'Del, it's not you!" He pulled back violently, his face furiously red.

Videl blushed as well, pushing her hair back out of her face. "It's Piccolo, isn't it."

"Uh - yeah. He doesn't know." Gohan's blush intensified. "What we've got is great, and I don't want to mess up anything between us by asking for things I know he won't want to give. He doesn't - there's no way he could think of me like that." Not that his own thoughts had gone past kissing, even at eighteen.

"So you really are into Piccolo," Videl sighed. "I don't know why I bothered trying. It's only been obvious since we met."

"It wasn't to me," Gohan grumbled. "Hell, it's still not really clear how I feel."

"You love him, you idiot." Videl rolled her eyes.

"Well, yeah, but that doesn't really clear anything up." Gohan ran his hand over the top of his hair, frustrated by the whole situation and oddly glad that Videl was willing to talk to him about this when she so obviously had a crush on him. She really was a great friend. "If it wasn't for the fact I want to kiss him, I'd have everything pretty well figured out."

Laughing, Videl reached out to pat Gohan's hand. "So you love him, but you can't deal with the fact that you want to kiss him?"

"Dende, when you put it like that it sounds ridiculous," Gohan said with another blush. "Honestly I wouldn't even know what to do if we  _did_ kiss."

"Stop overanalyzing and enjoy it, maybe? You always make everything so complicated."

Gohan cleared his throat, rubbing a knuckle awkwardly against his nose. Was he unnecessarily complicating things? That was probably true, but ... how would Piccolo react if he tried to kiss him? He had taken to their current arrangement well - and with surprisingly little fuss - but a little cuddling and actually kissing were two entirely different things.  _Even if I'd love to feel his fangs brush against my lips during a soft kiss ..._ If Videl had known about the true innocence of his fantasies, she'd definitely laugh at him.

"Maybe I like overanalyzing," he mumbled, not really sure what else to say. He wanted to know what to do about this, but the whole situation was so complicated. And he'd known for four years that Piccolo didn't experience any sort of attraction. At least ... he thought that was what his friend had said. It made sense, what with Namekians reproducing asexually. What purpose would they have, as a species, for sexual or even just romantic attraction?

Of course, things between them as they had been for the last two years might be considered romantic. Hand holding, cuddling, and gentle touches weren't exactly wholly platonic. He scratched his head, trying to figure out how exactly their relationship might be defined. He'd specified that they weren't dating, but they'd both acknowledged that they were more than just friends. It was like they'd fallen into some awkward place between being friends and being boyfriends, which while comfortable was not one hundred percent what Gohan wanted.

It was at least ninety-eight percent though, maybe even ninety-nine, of what Gohan currently desired.

"What would  _you_  do?" he finally asked Videl. "I mean, Piccolo is  _different_ , just going for it like you did is - uh, if he doesn't want it then it's likely he'll take a while for him to get over something like me trying to plant one on him."

"You did pick someone difficult to fall in love with," Videl laughed, taking this very well despite the fact that she had to be upset about getting rejected. "Maybe talk to him about it? Lay everything out on the table, tell him you love him and you want to see how you both feel about kissing?"

"Huh." Gohan's gaze was distant, staring unfocused at the grain of Videl's coffee table. "That did work out pretty well last time. I guess I'm just nervous because I feel like he's not going to want to, and I'm going to ruin things."

"Even  _I_  can tell he'd do anything for you. He's not going to suddenly hate you because you bring up kissing."

"That's the thing - what if he doesn't want to, but he does it anyway to make me happy?" This was a legitimate concern in Gohan's mind. He didn't want anything to do with making it so that Piccolo was uncomfortable or doing something he didn't want to do. The Namekian had sacrificed his  _life_ for Gohan. He didn't want him to make sacrifices in their relationship. "It's just all so ...  _complicated_."

"Uh, I'm pretty sure that all relationships are. I mean your parents are still together despite your dad being dead for seven years, and I  _met_ that Vegeta fellow. His relationship with Mrs. Briefs can't be simple. Even friendships can be complicated. You're saying this is too complicated and you're  _save the world_ brave, Gohan."

He supposed he was, and he sighed. "He's so important to me that I don't want to mess things up, that's all." That sounded lame. " _Fine_ , I'll talk to him. I guess you're making sense."

"Of course I am," Videl said with a smirk. "The only reason you couldn't see it for yourself is that you're too close to things. Just make sure you give him space to say no - uh, maybe be better about than that I was, and don't just try and kiss him." She blushed, but faintly. Thank gods she wasn't going to make this super awkward because she was probably his best friend outside of Piccolo.

"Thanks for the advice, 'Del. Now, you're wanting to learn about ki control ..."

"It's about time we got to that."


	19. Save the World Brave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taking Videl's advice, Gohan fights his nerves to talk to Piccolo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: There's a bit in here that really feels like victim blaming. There's no actual victim or anything and it's like two sentences, but I feel like part of this chapter could be triggering to someone who gets tripped by victim blaming so ... be warned, be careful, and take care of yourself.

Maybe Videl was wrong in her assessment of Gohan's bravery because it was more than a week later and she was making a lot more progress with ki control under the demi-Saiyan's tutelage than he was on approaching Piccolo about his long-standing desire to kiss the Namekian. He was still worried that this would somehow mess everything up completely, but fleeting thoughts of Piccolo's lips on his were becoming more and more frequent.

Today they rested, panting on the dusty wasteland ground. This time Gohan's gi was only somewhat tattered and it was Piccolo who'd been reduced to half a gi top. Idly Gohan found himself appreciating his sensei's partially unclothed body, the contrasting colors and varied textures, the muscles that made up his broad-shouldered and narrow-waisted figure. He adjusted the tie holding his hair in its tail, his mouth dry and his palms damp, and honestly he couldn't think of a better time for this other than the fact that he was scared.

 _Videl is seriously overestimating my courage_.

"Hey, Piccolo," he asked a little teasingly. "Have you ever liked anyone?"

Piccolo raised his naked brow. "I like you, kid. Even more than I used to."

Gohan blushed, not quite meeting Piccolo's eyes. Dende why had he thought that this was a good idea? "Enough to try something new? I can't seem to stop thinking about it, but I think it might be one of those things that would sort of push this over into the realm of ... well, something romantic. I know you don't think of me that way -"

"If I ever was going to think of anyone that way, it would be you," Piccolo said gruffly, purple staining his cheeks.

"But you don't." Gohan was trying to keep his tone casual, but he couldn't completely keep the longing out of those words.

"I haven't really thought about it," Piccolo confessed. He was content with what they had, with his claws running through the boy's hair and their bodies curled together and Gohan's head resting on his shoulder or thigh as they read. "What did you want to try?"

His heart was threatening to beat out of his chest, and Gohan moved closer to Piccolo, on his knees in front of his teacher and reaching out to brush his fingertips over the Namekian's jaw. Then his thumb brushed over Piccolo's plump emerald lower lip and he met his master's eye. He could _feel_ the tension in Piccolo's body, and he nearly pulled back and gave up on the option. Gathering up his strength of will, he admitted, "I want to kiss you. I have for quite a while. It's not - I don't think it's sexual or anything, but I still want to."

Stillness rested between them at Gohan's final word, fair fingertips still resting against a verdant jaw. Then, finally, so softly that it was more felt than seen, Piccolo nodded.

A sun-bright smile broke across the demi-Saiyan's face and the long and muscular young martial artist leaned forward, pressing his lips just barely to Piccolo's and then freezing, not daring to move lest he frighten away the Namekian. They were still, and then Piccolo shifted slightly, tilting his head slightly to one side, his lips just barely parted - and they kissed, something in Gohan's heart bursting as he felt the barest brush of fangs against his lips. The kiss was brief - almost painfully brief - and then they pulled apart and just stared into each other's eyes for a long moment before Gohan broke the silence.

"We don't have to do that again if you don't want to," Gohan said softly, still overwhelmed by the gentle contact their lips had made. He had no intention of doing it again unless Piccolo initiated it first so that he could feel comfortable that the Namekian honestly wanted this as much as he did.

Piccolo gave Gohan a tiny smile, contrasting with the violet in his cheeks. Even he is aware that this is a very chaste version of what a kiss can be; it's almost not worth mentioning except that it being with his student made it somehow so much more intense than it otherwise could have been. He's aware this will eventually progress, but for now, he's strangely comfortable despite the emotional intensity of this new development. "That's all you want?"

"Well, mostly," Gohan admits, daring to put out that tiny thing more, that little bit that seemed inconsequential next to the innocent kiss. "If we're to the point of kissing ... will you be my boyfriend?"

Piccolo actually laughs. What's a label next to everything else? "Sure, kid. Although I'm sure your mother will have plenty to say about  _that_."

"I don't care," Gohan said flippantly, twining his fingers with his sensei's. "I love you, Piccolo."

This is actually easy to say now. "I love you too, kid."

* * *

One kiss, one word, and Gohan wasn't sure whether to bask in the gloriousness of it all or to look for some way to expend some of the burst of energy that had come with fulfilling his long-held fantasy. That was the last one, it occurred to him. Unless his brain decided to throw up some other random mental image, he could truthfully say he was  _exactly_ where he wanted to be with Piccolo ... and weirdly, it was because Videl had tried to kiss him and then given him a pep talk about going for what he wanted. He should maybe thank her for that at some point.  _Not that it will be awkward at all. Hi, 'Del, thanks for having a crush on me and then kicking me in the ass about not kissing someone else_. Uh-huh, no, he'd stick with not mentioning the avoided kiss again and hope he and Videl could settle into  _just friends_ in the normal not code for anything way.

Thankfully the remaining of their training session gave Gohan an outlet for his excited energy, and as he was cooling down something occurred to him and he sighed. Piccolo's attention was on him in a second, a quiet presence of eyes lighting on his student's expression as he waited for Gohan to speak.

"I've got to tell my parents, don't I? That we're - boyfriends." None of the surrounding labels, like 'dating' or 'going out' seemed quite right somehow. "Even though I'm eighteen and have been saving the world since I was five, this is still something where I have to sit down and tell my parents. What am I even going to say? 'Seeing each other' will go  _right_ over Dad's head, and 'involved' sounds way more  _physical_ than what we have."

"You could always go with 'Piccolo's my boyfriend now'," the Namekian suggested dryly.

Gohan actually laughed, running his hand through hair that had lost its tie about halfway through the second half of their session. "You are, aren't you? My boyfriend. And I'm yours. Dende,  _that_ is going to take a while to sink in." Finger-combing his hair to get it back into a semblance of order, the demi-Saiyan turned to his mentor. "Clothes Beam, please? If I'm going to do this it's probably best if I  _don't_ look like you've been tossing me around a canyon all morning."

"Even though I have been," Piccolo pointed out, but compiled in replacing Gohan's gi yet again. Then he fixed his own clothes and looked expectantly at his boyfriend.

"What -"

"You don't think I'm going to let you go into battle alone, do you?"

With a warm, loving smile, Gohan went up to take Piccolo's hand briefly. Then the two of them took off for the Son residence and one of the most terrifying opponents any of the Z-Fighters had ever faced - Gohan's mother.

They landed together outside the house and Gohan could immediately smell that he'd managed ti be late for lunch, although not by much. Opening the door he went into his lifelong home, his boyfriend (he'd never get tired of that!) ducking as he entered behind him. "Sorry I'm late, Mom. I brought Piccolo by for lunch."

"Oh, did you?" As always, there was that slight strain in Chi-Chi's voice to make it obvious she was only tolerating Piccolo's presence in her home. This was going to turn into another yelling match, wasn't it? It would hardly be the first time that Gohan and his mother had gone at it over Piccolo being in his life and Chi-Chi never seemed to give up hope that one day she'd manage to separate her son from his mentor. "Well, sit down, sit down - what can I get for you, Piccolo?"

"Just water," the Namekian said gruffly as his student piled his plate high and took a moment to get some food down before he lost his chance to his father and six-year-old brother. The faucet ran, a glass was placed in front of the tall green man, and for a moment everything was silent except for the sound of Saiyans eating.

Then Chi-Chi spoke up, looking critically at Piccolo. "So, to what do we owe the honor of having you for lunch, Piccolo?"

"I'm here to support Gohan," he said in a clipped voice. It was no secret that Gohan's mother and his boyfriend didn't much like each other, and the demi-Saiyan quickly wiped his mouth before this could escalate.

"Actually, I had something to tell you and Dad," he said quickly, looking from one parent to the other. His mother's eyes were narrowed in suspicion; Goku wore an expression of vague, innocent interest. Taking a deep breath, Gohan went  _exactly_ for his mentor's suggestion. "Piccolo's my boyfriend now."

The words came out in a sort of blurted tumble and for a moment everyone (except Piccolo, who was taking another sip of his water) took a long moment to just stare at Gohan.

Unfortunately, it was Chi-Chi who recovered first. She turned red, then purple, then whirled on Piccolo. "You! You're an  _adult_! How could you! And  _you_ -" She spun to face her son. "How could you let him take advantage of you like this? You're supposed to be smarter than this, Gohan! I never should have let you train with him, I should have kept you at your studies!"

Gohan was flabbergasted. "Mom! No one's taking advantage of anybody! Piccolo's only four years older than me, he's only twenty-two, and what's more, this was  _my idea_. I'm the one who wanted to take things ... further. We're not even doing anything like what I think you're thinking. We love each other and - Mom, how could you think Piccolo would do anything to hurt me?"

"That monster kidnapped you -" She was tearing up now, and Gohan sighed.

"Mom. That was  _fourteen years ago_. Everyone else has forgiven him.  _I've_ forgiven him. What's more, it's not even his fault I was gone as long as I was. I found the house after six months, but I decided to stay with Piccolo and train. You can't just arbitrarily blame him for everything; he's been encouraging me to make my own decisions since I was four." Unlike his mother, or his father for that matter. There was resentment there over the fact that his parents had always tried to push him in specific directions instead of asking what he wanted, "On top of all that, I'm  _eighteen_ , I can move out if I want to. Videl would probably give me a guest room if I asked, or I could see about moving into the Lookout. I don't  _have_ to stick around for this if this is how you're going to be." Dende, he was glad that he was moving out to go to college in a few months. Something itched at the base of his spine, but he tried to ignore it.

"Gohan." Piccolo's voice was level, reasonable. "Don't get worked up and make decisions you're going to regret. Think things through."

The demi-Saiyan sighed. Piccolo was right; he was always right. "Sorry. But really - we're both adults and he's  _not_  very much older than me. I'm telling you out of respect, and I hope you'll respect my choice to be with the person I love."

There was silence from Chi-Chi; perhaps that was the best that they could hope for at first. Goten hadn't been interested enough to stop eating for more than a minute or two. That left Goku, who was rubbing the back of his head awkwardly.

"I don't get it. Why is it a big deal that you two are boyfriends?"

* * *

It had been mutually decided that the best place to meditate that night was outside, and so Piccolo and Gohan were settled into the grass just far enough from the house to make it likely they'd be left alone. Gohan had no illusions that his mother wasn't going to peek out and check on them from time to time, but he didn't really care. This new step in his relationship with Piccolo was more than worth bearing his mother's scrutiny.

It was a beautiful night, and frankly, Gohan thought this was more romantic than his bedroom, so he could hardly complain about getting chased outside. The cool air was invigorating, and the night smelled of grass and flowers. It was pleasant and peaceful, and for a long time, the pair sat in padmasana meditating together. The itch that had started while he was arguing with his mother was still bothering him off and on, which was interrupting his meditation. In fact, at one point he got so focused on the itch that it became the focus of his meditation -

" _WOAH._ " 

A brown, furry tail had forced its way out through the back of Gohan's jeans, and the demi-Saiyan twisted to look incredulously at his tail. "Oh. I - I wonder how that happened."

Piccolo pursed his lips; he'd removed the kid's tail personally more than once. "Those things don't seem to like to stay gone," he grumbled, reaching out curiously to run a clawed finger down the appendage. Gohan gasped, and Piccolo quickly yanked his hand back.

"No, that was all right - just a little intense," Gohan said, blushing faintly. "Uh, I think I'm done meditating for tonight, but it's really nice out here ... "

"It is," Piccolo agreed, eyeing Gohan curiously.

"Would you like to stargaze for a little while?" the demi-Saiyan asked curiously. He leaned back on his elbows, waiting to see what Piccolo would do.

The Namekian hesitated, then laid back in the grass with Gohan joining him in gazing up at the sky. It was beautiful, peaceful, and for quite some time they lay there listening to the night sounds and looking at the stars.

Then Piccolo rolled over on his side and leaned in over Gohan. His eyes searched his friend's for a moment, and whatever he saw made him smile, small and secret. Then he leaned in, pressing green lips to pink ones softly, their mouths gently moving together before the brief contact ended. Then Piccolo settled back onto his back, looking up at the stars. It really was a beautiful night and as Gohan boldly took his hand the Namekian couldn't help but smirk in contentment.


	20. The Last Year as a Teen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gohan turns nineteen; his mother insists on planning the party.

It wasn't often that all the Z-Fighters got together, but Gohan hardly thought it was necessary for his nineteenth birthday party. He would have been content with the same group that had been present for most of his birthdays since he turned fifteen - Videl, Sharpner, Erasa, and of course Piccolo. He didn't need all his father's friends, and he didn't need anything big.

Yet here he was, at Capsule Corp with all the Z-Fighters, with Erasa trying to find a polite way to back out of a conversation she'd somehow gotten herself into with Master Roshi.  _I did warn her and Videl about him, didn't I? Back before Dad came back for one day and never left?_ He certainly hoped that he had ... and thankfully it looked like Erasa had escaped the conversation unscathed.

Despite his mother's intentions, Gohan found himself hanging out with his knot of friends, talking idly, separate among the crowd of friends that belonged to the previous generation. At least Trunks and Goten had the right idea; they had disappeared to play video games as soon as the party had started and weren't expected back out until someone announced cake.

"Is this a private conversation, or can anyone join in?" Seventeen's voice was teasing, even flirtatious, but Gohan was pretty sure that was just the way he was.

"Pull up a chair," the birthday boy invited. Seventeen took the middle of the couch between the blondes, stretching his arms our along the back of it behind them.

"All the single people seem to be hanging out over here," the android said with a wink. "Put that with the fact that you all are the only ones other than my sister that I'm not a good deal younger than, and clearly this is where the real party is."

"Clearly," Videl said, her lips pursed slightly, causing Seventeen to wink at her.

"I don't think I met you all the last time everyone got together. I'm Seventeen. Gohan, who are all your friends?"

"These are Videl, Erasa, and Sharpner. They're friends from school, and I'm teaching 'Del ki control when we both have the time. She's doing really well; she's already managed flying, even if she's still shaky."

"All good things to say about her. You two dating?"

Videl and Gohan gave each other awkward looks. "Hardly," 'Del finally answered. "I think the three of us are all currently single - you  _did_  dump Paipa, didn't you Sharpner?"

Sharpner nodded vaguely in confirmation, checking out Seventeen out of the corner of his eye. Erasa was still making awkward eyes at Piccolo.

"The three of you ..." Seventeen trailed off, looking around at the five others gathered there. "You do know I can count, darlings. If only three of you are single ... Goku's kid and the green guy?" He smirked, unable to decide whether or not to laugh at this development. "Your mother must have  _fainted_."

"She was too busy screaming at us," Gohan said idly, swirling his glass of ... actually, he wasn't sure what he was drinking, nor did he care so long as he didn't end up too drunk to think straight again. "It was even worse than when she found out I'd gotten a tattoo of Piccolo's symbol ... and that was  _before_ he and I were ... together."

Seventeen laughed. "That's rich - you got a tattoo for your crush before you started dating? Talk about jumping the gun."

"I was kind of drunk," Gohan said defensively. "I'm just glad I wound up with something I love instead of something stupid." Sighing, he pulled up his left shirtsleeve to show Seventeen the tattoo. "I  _still_ don't know where my shirt went that night."

The android bit his lower lip, actually trying to be nice for once. "It's very well done, so you lucked out on that front. And with the green bean actually liking you that way. So what's he got in his pants?" He really couldn't help himself.

Gohan and Piccolo both blushed, pink and purple staining their cheeks with the vibrancy of a Lisa Frank notebook. "I wouldn't know," Gohan said, his voice strained. It wasn't something he'd even  _thought_ about except in a purely academic sense. "We're not ... at that point. Or in a hurry to get there." Only then did it occur to him that he could have just slugged Seventeen instead of answering and no one would have blamed him; his blush redoubled.

This time Seventeen did laugh, shifting so that he actually had one arm around each of the blondes. Erasa jumped slightly but didn't object; Sharpner definitely didn't mind. "Such innocents. I almost feel like I should do something about it, but ah, so much work. Let's talk about your friends ..." He settled into flirting there, although he quickly abandoned any efforts to so much as tell Videl she was pretty when she nearly bit his head off. Instead, he stuck to the blondes, completely shameless about the approximately ten year age gap between them.

* * *

His mother had eventually chased him away from his friends, and Gohan and Piccolo went wandering among the other guests. Mostly it was a 'hello' here and a 'happy birthday' there, which wasn't too bad if not terribly stimulating. Figuring he needed to spend some time among the main crowd before going back to his friends, the demi-Saiyan got himself into a conversation about baseball with Yamcha, Tien, and Chiaotzu that he was only half following. Piccolo wasn't even trying; he was just standing there with his arms crossed and making it clear he didn't want to be spoken to directly.

After a while Gohan tugged one of his mentor's hands down and twined his fingers with Piccolo's, squeezing lightly and resting his head on the taller man's shoulder. The movement seemed so natural to him that he didn't even think about it, and it took him a very long collection of seconds to figure out why the conversation had suddenly just  _stopped_.

Because none of them  _knew_. His close circle knew, and his parents, and Goten at least as much as he cared to know ... but that was it, other than Seventeen now (who seemed to be determined to worm his way into his circle of friends, at least temporarily). Nobody else knew. They hadn't felt a need to go around announcing it, because so long as they knew and understood what they were doing it hardly  _mattered_.

Chaiotzu and Tien recovered first, more simply surprised by the development than anything, and tried to pick up the conversation again; Yamcha, on the other hand, wasn't having any of this.

"Wait - you two -"

"Why does everyone keep doing that?" Gohan asked, exasperated. Piccolo had a small snarl on his lips, annoyed and trying to keep from lashing out or leaving. After a moment he retrieved his hand from Gohan's and - determined to make himself clear - wrapped his arm around his boyfriend's waist.

"Woah - how long have you two been dating?" Yamcha's awkward look wasn't exactly insulting, but it was a pebble in their shoe. "Keeping secrets - you're as bad as your dad!"

"We're not really keeping it secret," Gohan said, happily snuggling into Piccolo's bold display of affection. "It's more it hasn't come up. It's only been a few months and we haven't  _seen_ any of you since then."

"Yeah, like the fact we saw your dad again for the first time in five years and he had a four-year-old," Yamcha pointed out. "Throw a man a text!"

"I fail to see how my relationship status is worthy of a group chat?" Gohan said, honestly a bit confused. He'd been expecting this to be a lot more negative ... although he wasn't complaining about being openly and publically held by his mentor.

"Well, when you don't let people know what's going on, you get this," Yamcha said, waving at the rest of the party. Everyone who hadn't been in the small group of people told was looking at them in surprise - wait no, not Vegeta, Vegeta clearly had somehow already known and was smirking in satisfaction ... and had just earned himself a smack from Bulma for not telling.

"... We weren't trying to make a spectacle," he said with a sigh. Unfortunately, that seemed to be exactly what they'd done.


	21. Afterparty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After their relationship becomes public, Piccolo and Gohan have a chat while they're supposed to be meditating.

They were still, for the moment, banished outside for meditation when the weather was fair. Chi-Chi seemed to think that Piccolo was going to pounce on her son the moment he was given a chance ...  _while honestly, that couldn't be further from the truth_ , Gohan thought with a sigh. He certainly wasn't thinking about that, and he doubted that was  _ever_ going to cross Piccolo's mind. Not that he could be completely sure ...

"Pic, do you ever want ... more than what we've got?" he asked curiously, in the familiar position for meditation but unable to settle his mind properly.

Piccolo sighed at his student's restlessness. "What do you mean by  _more_?"

"Well - like what Seventeen was talking about today, or what Krillin assumed was going on, or - what my  _mother_ is so sure is going to happen." He blushed scarlet; there was no way he was going to say 'sex' or anything like that.

The Namekian, apparently, had no such qualms. "You mean sexual intercourse." Way to come right out with it. Piccolo paused, considering. "While I am capable of such, it is not something I've thought about very much. Besides, there's no reason to think about it unless you want to see if we can enjoy each other that way."

Gohan gaped. "It's not all about me, you know," the demi-Saiyan said, rubbing his hand over his nose as he blushed. "It's not really something that has been on my mind but ...  _do_ you want to? I'd definitely be open to ... to seeing if there's more that we enjoy."  _The whole thing is a tangled mess_ , Gohan thought. If he'd been not thinking about it because he figured it was impossible anyway ( _had_ that been why he hadn't been thinking about it?) and Piccolo had been doing that self-sacrificing thing again ... "I mean, I'm happy just kissing you, I've never even thought of - more - but I also didn't think that you  _could_ ..."

"There's a difference between reproducing asexually and being asexual," he finally says, years later than he first felt the urge to clarify that for his student. "I am perfectly capable of ... performing, although I am not ..." He cleared his throat, blushing purple. "What I ... _have_ ... is not what you're used to seeing."

"Because Namekians are hermaphroditic," Gohan said almost automatically, pulling out a bit of formerly useless knowledge. "I - uh - I'm pretty sure I wouldn't care about that. If we were to try anything." Could he get any redder? "I care a lot more that you're  _you_ than ... what we've got to work with. Gods, this is awkward."

"Why?" Piccolo asked with a raised brow-ridge.

"I've never even  _thought_ about doing anything more than kissing you, and here we are discussing ... a lot more than kissing." The answer was yes; his face  _could_ get redder. "I love you, but I thought you  _couldn't_ and I don't know if that's why I didn't or if - hn. It's just a lot to figure out." He paused. "Do  _you_ want to? Because if you don't want to, there's no reason for  _me_ to try to figure this out."

Piccolo gave Gohan a long, sideways look, smirking a little proprietary as he did so. "Kid, I'd think you'd be aware by now that I find you very attractive. That includes sexually, so if you want to ... yes. I'd very much enjoy ... seeing if we can work things out."

Floored, Gohan was speechless for a long moment, then leaned in to kiss Piccolo with heat in the brief contact of their lips. "I feel like I'm always the one saying how far we go and when," he murmured. "Can - can I ask you to take the lead for a while? Show me what you want, and I promise I'll let you know if I get uncomfortable."

There was another of those long looks, then Piccolo slipped his talons into the back of Gohan's long hair. This was how it naturally grew, and he'd given into it years ago now; Piccolo thought it suited the kid. He was going to take this slowly, and he definitely wasn't going to push very hard tonight, but ... was it odd that technically Piccolo was the more experienced of the pair? Kami had been isolated and celibate, but Nail's memories were very helpful in this regard. Pulling Gohan in close, Piccolo tilted the boy's head to the side slightly and kissed him, nipping his lower lip just hard enough to draw twin pinpoints of blood with his fangs.

Gohan made a sound that was somewhere between a gasp and a moan and pushed in closer.

Taking that as a sign that his student was enjoying what he was doing, His tongue darted across the younger man's lip, tasting the metallic tang of his blood, and then tentatively Piccolo slid his tongue into Gohan's mouth.

The demi-Saiyan responds instantly, his tongue meeting Piccolo's eagerly as he tries to find the rhythm of this deepened kiss. While Gohan's fantasizing had reached a standstill, he seems to know what he's doing anyway, at least in this. Piccolo's other hand goes to the small of Gohan's back, claws digging into his top slightly; the kid wraps his arms around Piccolo's neck.

When the kiss broke Gohan was blushing and breathing heavily; the Namekian had obviously done  _something_ right. "I love your body," the demi-Saiyan blurted out. "You're gorgeous, your shoulders are amazing, your legs - I like everything about you." A bold finger stroked one antenna and made Piccolo quiver; in revenge, the Namekian stroked the boy's tail lightly and watched him gasp and quiver.

"You're the gorgeous one," Piccolo said, gently complimenting him. It was the stark truth in the Namekian's opinion. He was nothing particularly special, but  _Gohan_ -

Not giving either one of them a chance for embarrassment, Piccolo leaned in and kissed Gohan again, deeply, his tongue exploring and his lips lingering as his fangs brushed the delicate skin of his boyfriend's lips lightly. They broke apart gasping, embarrassment over compliments at least most forgotten.

"Gohan! Get in here, it's time for bed!"

The demi-Saiyan blushed then, mortified at getting caught by his mother. She still wasn't on board with this, of course she wasn't - but it was a little annoying that she kept trying to pry them apart.

Leaning in to give Piccolo a slightly less chaste kiss good night, Gohan took a moment to lick his lower lip and make sure there weren't any traces of blood from that nip. "I'll see you tomorrow," he whispered, giving Piccolo a small, giddy smile before popping up to go back into the house. Whatever happened or didn't happen from here on out, the kisses he'd gotten tonight were more than worth the awkwardness of the conversation that preceded them.

Meeting his mother at the door, Gohan tried to look reasonably solemn but it was  _hard_. He'd never been kissed like that before, and it being Piccolo always made things better. "We hadn't really gotten started on meditating yet, Mother -"

"I could see that," Chi-Chi said harshly. "You should be dating a nice girl - how about that darling Videl? Or Erasa, though she seems a little silly. How is  _he_ ever going to make you happy? And what about  _grandchildren_?"

"Mom, I don't even know if I  _want_ kids, but if Piccolo and I decide we want a child he can always produce an egg," Gohan said logically. Sure they wouldn't be genetically his, but he wouldn't mind that at all. If they wanted kids. He wasn't sure either of them did. "As for Videl and Erasa, they're  _just_ friends. Videl's great, but I have no desire to kiss her, and Erasa and I aren't interested in each other either. As for how he's going to make me happy ..." Gohan sighed, pretty sure his mentor was still listening and wanting to express himself clearly for the Namekian. "Mom, Piccolo makes me happy every day that I see him. He doesn't have to  _do_ anything ... just being around him makes me happy. And he always puts me first, he's been doing that since I was four. He's trained me, taken care of me, given his life for me. Yet none of that matters beside the fact that we  _love_ each other. We want to be together, and we  _do_ make each other happy. I don't understand how you could want something different for me just because Piccolo isn't the person that you had in mind for me."

Chi-Chi look stunned but continued in a wavering voice. "He's taking advantage of you, making you think you care for him -"

" _No_ , Mom. I have to ask him if I want him to do anything because otherwise, he'll just wait for me to do something. No one's being taken advantage of. Dende, we didn't even kiss until I was eighteen!"

"It's not natural -"

"What, for me to be in love with an alien? In case you missed it, Mom, Dad's an alien and Goten and I are half alien. He's  _not_ a demon, he's  _not_ a monster, he's just ... a man. He just comes in a little bit different packaging." He paused, then continued with obvious hurt in his voice. "Or are you objecting to that? To me being - gay, or whatever the appropriate label is? Because I've never once looked at a girl the way I look at Piccolo, and I doubt I'm ever going to. He's it for me, Mom. I love him and that's it."

The dark-haired princess blanched, shaking her head. "Oh, no, darling - I don't mind if you're gay. Of course I love you all the same. I just wish you'd picked someone ... else.  _Anyone_ else."

"But it's him for me," Gohan said with a sigh and a goofy little smile. "It's always been him. I've never been even remotely interested in anyone else."

Chi-Chi sighed, hugging her son tightly. "I don't want you to get hurt."

"He's not going to hurt me. He didn't even hurt me when he was training me that first year." He laughed. "Did I ever tell you about the apples? Maybe that's something that'll make you feel a little better ... I don't think I've ever really told the story before. You know how little Piccolo likes to look ... nice."

Pulling his mother in to sit down, Gohan started on the brief (but to him, highly emotional) story of two sour apples his first night in the wilderness. And, just maybe, it helped a little.


	22. Year One All Over Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been a year since Goku's return.

"It's been a year since he came back," Gohan mused, his head on Piccolo's thigh as he stared into the blue and white sky and the Namekian ran his taloned fingers through his hair. "Is it strange how little effect that has on me?"

Piccolo paused, claws stilling briefly before Gohan wiggled a little to encourage the Namekian to resume his motions. He chuckled softly but complied, pressing his lips to the contented demi-Saiyan's forehead. "I don't think it's odd. You mourned him, but you've seen him come back before. You probably had it in the back of your head that he might the whole time. Hell, I bet everyone did to some extent or another ... which would explain your mother waiting for him for seven years." The tall figure shrugged, paying gentle attention to the younger warrior. "Do you want to train more?"

"Not really," Gohan said lazily. "I've got Vegeta this afternoon, and he _never_ lets up." Not that Piccolo was a light taskmaster by any stretch of the imagination, but the Namekian was willing to spend time just enjoying Gohan's company. Vegeta on the other hand ... well, Gohan wasn't sure he enjoyed anyone's company besides maybe Bulma's. "It's nice to be able to just be here with you." Especially since right now they were without his mother's watching presence, better since the night of his birthday but still  _always there_ and doing her best to make sure their relationship remained on a level she approved of.

"Maybe I should start being rougher on you," Piccolo said in a perfect, uninterpretable deadpan.

Gohan looked up at him curiously, then propped himself up on one elbow. "Are you teasing me?"

Piccolo just raised one brow, a tiny smirk on his lips.

Huffing in mock annoyance, Gohan shifted so he could press his lips to Piccolo's, affectionate and demanding all at once. The Namekian grasped the back of his boyfriend's hair, careful of his claws, and tilted the demi-Saiyan's head back so that he could nip Gohan's lower lip and invade his mouth briefly. They weren't, he'd observed, good at making steps forward; since that had been placed in his hands, Piccolo was trying to find the right pace but at the same time observing himself to be clumsy and uncertain in his attempts. Not that Gohan seemed to mind ...

The issue, in his mind, was that he didn't often just go after what he wanted. He lived an austere life, without possessions and with only the luxury offered by the Lookout itself. The notion of - even with explicit permission - taking liberties with his student's body seemed foreign to him.

And yet ... he wanted to. He wanted to, and Gohan had  _asked_ him to.

Tipping the boy onto his back in the grass, Piccolo leaned over him possessively and kissed Gohan again, tongue demanding entry, fangs tracing against his lower lip. Gohan gasped and slid his hands around the Namekian's neck, responding eagerly. This was nice, and by this point familiar. Pulling back, Piccolo casually tossed aside his turban and cape, then moved back in to kiss down the side of Gohan's neck, enjoying the feel of his pulse under his lips. Less familiar, but still not new. Then Piccolo hesitated before doing something he'd never done before - first unknotting the belt of Gohan's gi, then methodically removing both gi top and undershirt.

He paused then, waiting for Gohan's response.

The boy's eyes widened, and then he smiled and kissed the Namekian leaning over him. They'd been riding at a fairly even keel for a while, and this was a definite step forward. Tentatively, Gohan traced the edge of his boyfriend's gi top, then gave him the same treatment, although he took his time in rendering his teacher shirtless. The two of them moved slowly from there, hands gently exploring the differences and similarities between their torsos in a way they never had before.

Gohan was fascinating by the varied textures that he knew were there, but which he was now running his fingers over the green areas of his master's skin, smooth and ridged in turns, the pink areas circled by red, red bands at wrists and shoulders and who knew where else, ridges in the pink muscles ... it was all wonderful and beautiful, although Gohan could feel Piccolo tensing as he explored. Nibbling at the side of the Namekian's neck, Gohan boldly ran his tongue along the other man's earlobe. "I like the way you feel."

His hands exploring the half-visible oval of pink on Piccolo's abdomen, he felt the Namekian relax. He didn't know why his sensei seemed to be so self-conscious about his own body, but he did sometimes. Maybe it was all in Gohan's head.

Piccolo's hands had been idly tracing over Gohan's stomach and now slid the palms of his hands upwards, his thumbs brushing over the nipples that he had nothing like on his anatomy. Gohan gasped, and Piccolo stopped short. "Is that a good gasp or a bad gasp," he asked gruffly.

"Definitely good," Gohan murmured, smiling up at Piccolo with his eyes hooded. "Are you enjoying - is this good?"

"It's good," Piccolo said with a small smile. This was definitely new, and both of them were being a little awkward. Still, both of them were successfully managing to incite pleasurable reactions in the other. Piccolo leaned in and kissed Gohan again, nipping his lower lip and claiming the kid's mouth passionately. The clash of tongues and teeth, the slide of hands over skin - it all had both of them breathing harder, their hearts beating faster in unison. One of Piccolo's hands trailed down Gohan's chest and abs, trailing claws and making the boy gasp; the other moved up his side possessively. At the same time, Gohan's hands moved around to run down Piccolo's back, blunt fingernails running over the variegated skin there.

The demi-Saiyan rolled them over, straddling Piccolo and looking down at the Namekian in the grass before leaning down to kiss him again, smearing the faintest trace of blood against his master's lip as he rested one hand in the soft, verdant blades on either side of the other man's head. Then he kissed each of Piccolo's antenna and the middle of his forehead, making his boyfriend shiver delightfully under him.

"I love you so much, Piccolo," he murmured, his forehead resting gently against the Namekian's. Gohan seemed to have settled for the moment, simply basking in their closeness - something that Piccolo found he enjoyed as much as the more active aspect of their relationship. The peaceful notes in between their more vibrant lust were beautiful in their own way, and the Namekian treasured it when they caught their breath or enjoyed being close to each other without doing anything else as much as he did the rest.

"I love you too, Gohan," he responded, one hand sliding into the back of the kid's hair, holding him close. He'd always loved him, or close enough; now he fully knew what he meant when he said that.

He meant desire.

He meant affection.

He meant a need to protect the kid.

He meant letting Gohan protect him.

He meant they had a partnership, one of physical and emotional closeness and fierce loyalty. One where they were equals in all things, giving and taking in even shares.

His hand slid down Gohan's sides, resting on his hips with his talons digging into the orange fabric of his gi pants. "You know, this never has been  _anyone's_ color," Piccolo commented lightly, kissing the tattoo on his boyfriend's shoulder. He'd told the kid he'd regret that piece of art one day, but the Namekian was starting to believe that he actually wouldn't.

"I know," Gohan laughed, "but with Dad dead ... except he's not anymore. I'd really like to go back to wearing your gi."

Piccolo's heart spasmed, and he kissed Gohan fiercely until he had to pull back from the heady contact. At least the kid was the only one of them gasping for breath, or Piccolo might have been blushing too hard to respond. "Once you're ready to leave, I'll get you in one." This would mean there'd be no hiding Gohan's tattoo, which made the Namekian's heart flutter again.

"I'm never going to be ready to leave, but I'm going to have to anyway. And it's not going to be near long enough."

* * *

Vegeta raised an eyebrow at the brat's change of gi. He supposed it was only a matter of time before he went back to his preferred gi - his  _boyfriend's_ gi - but how could he have missed that tattoo? You'd think he would have smelled the ink when it was fresh ... and it certainly didn't  _look_ new. "When did you decide it was a good idea to get your Namek's mark permanently written on your skin?" the prince asked caustically.

"Um, on my sixteenth birthday," Gohan admitted awkwardly. "What difference does it make to you?"

"None," Vegeta snapped. None except that this had apparently gone unnoticed for over three years when he saw the kid once a week. That grated. He turned the gravity up an extra 50G from where they'd been as punishment ... not that he was sure who he was punishing. "Pushups. To start, of course. You're going to be too worn out to make stupid decisions by the time I'm done with you today."


	23. College Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our quartet of (now ex) highschoolers is moving into the college dorms.

It seemed weird for Gohan to be finally moving out of his parents' house and into the city. Thankfully his dorm was near a campus park, or he would have been entirely uncomfortable in his own new home. He'd managed to acquire (almost unheard of for a freshman) smaller end of the hall single room; Sharpner and Pencal, a friend from Orange Star High that had never spent much time with their quartet, were roomed beside him; Videl and Erasa were across the hall from the boys. It was nice that they all got rooms together (Gohan suspected Videl had asked her father to make it happen), but the most important part to Gohan was that he had his privacy.

At least, he'd have it if his parents ever left. Goku was looking decidedly awkward - Gohan was petty sure his father had rubbed the back of his head and laughed nervously at least ten times. Chi-Chi, though ... she was hovering around, trying to make sure everything was just so and arranging things in a way where Gohan was sure he was just going to have to redo everything himself once she left. If she left.

Pencal poked his head in without knocking, Erasa ducking under the arm of the dark green haired young man once the door was opened. "You almost done in here?" Pencal asked, one arm going around Erasa's waist.  _Well, that answers that question. And hopefully means she's done making eyes at Piccolo, too._ "Seventeen showed up and if you don't come to lunch with us, Videl's gonna be out of place." His head tilted to the side slightly. "Unless your boyfriend's coming?"

"Not until later tonight," Gohan said, ignoring his mother's look. "Mom, Dad, I'll see you when I come home for break!" Quickly, he ducked out with his friends, leaving his parents in his room and hoping they'd be gone when he got back. "Why's Seventeen here? What did I miss this summer?"

"A lot, apparently. I saw you being surprised by Pencal and me," Erasa said, the cat in the cream over having even minor secrets. "Anyway, Seventeen and Sharpner are making a pair of it, though they're a little weird. I guess when you have that much ironic sass in one relationship things can get sort of out of hand."

"Um, okay. I'll be sure to congratulate them when I see them. And you two, too - congrats." He really hoped Erasa was properly over Piccolo because that had been awkward even before Gohan had realized he liked Piccolo the way he did. "Someone mentioned food? I could go for a snack."

"Good - come on, we need to help 'Del escape her dad, too," Erasa said brightly.

"Ah." Parents were like that, weren't they? Especially Mr. Satan seemed to be protective of his only daughter. Elected by process of eenie meenie miney mo, Gohan was the one to knock on Videl and Erasa's door and poke his head in while the blondes and their boyfriends (how had he missed Seventeen and Sharpner becoming an item?) waited in the hall. "Hey, uh, Mr. Satan? We were going to all go out to eat, just the six of us, if you can spare Videl? Otherwise, I'll be the fifth wheel and have to deal with being surrounded by couples."

Hercule grabbed onto the 'fifth wheel' comment, focusing on Gohan and remembering he was  _strong_. "And just what are your intentions towards my daughter?"

"Uh - friendship?" This was awkward. "I sort of have a boyfriend. Have for a while. It's one of those things where we were seeing each other for a long time before we knew we were seeing each other - right 'Del?"

"Oh, definitely," Videl said lazily. "It was completely obvious, except to them. Dad, please go home - I'll be  _fine_ , I have great neighbors, great friends, and we're gonna go out to eat. I'll see you this weekend."

"But -"

" _Bye_ , Dad. I love you. I'm still your baby girl and I'll see you Saturday. Okay?" With that she turned and left before her dad could object, much like Gohan had left his own parents behind. "Gods, getting them to leave is ridiculous."

"You're telling me. My dad was ready to go, but Mom just  _wouldn't leave_ and she's organized everything completely wrong."

"Hah! At least yours didn't cry. They  _didn't_ , did they?"

"No, thank Dende." Gohan shuddered. "I'm fine without that  _ever_ happening, although I'm sure Mom will find an excuse to cry eventually."

"Uh. If I'm ever a parent, I'm going to be a lot more laid back than that."

Gohan didn't reply to that.  _If I'm ever a parent, it's going to be to a Namekian boy._ That was if Piccolo even wanted to ... they hadn't been talking kids yet. Frankly, they'd been more focused on exploring their relationship than asking where it was going  _eventually_. "It's kind of annoying that your dad and my mom both want us to get together. No offense, I'm sure you'd make a great girlfriend. You're just not my type."

"Thanks," 'Del said sarcastically. "I'd claim the same, but we all know that's a big fat lie." She pushed into Sharpner and Pencal's room where everyone was waiting. "Okay, we've escaped the clingy parents. Where are we headed?"

"There's a Chinese place right off of campus," Sharpner suggested, standing next to Seventeen in a way that definitely suggested they were together without the two of them actually touching; it was a sharp contrast to the way Erasa hung off of Pencal.

"Chinese sounds good," Gohan chipped in. With no objections, they all headed out and soon found themselves seated around a largish table with the demi-Saiyan feeling awkwardly like he and Videl had been treated like a third couple when it came to seating. He kind of wished Piccolo was here, but then VIdel would have  _really_ felt left out.

How was she single? She was a really good friend, a great girl, and in another reality maybe ...  _But not this one, and this is the only reality I have any sort of control over._ "How was this summer, 'Del?"

"Good. I've been doing a lot of training. What about you?" And of course, they'd been having occasional sessions working on Videl's ki usage, more frequent over the summer than they had been over the school year.

"Oh, the usual - training, meditation, studying -"

"Dude, it was  _summer_ ," Pencal interrupted.

"You haven't met my mother properly yet," Gohan pointed out. "She's been making me study since I was tiny. Summer doesn't stop her."

"Ouch. So you and Videl and ... Seventeen ... are all martial artists?"

"Videl and Gohan are," the android answered lazily. "I'm more of a  _fighter_ than a martial artist."

"What's the difference?" Pencal asked, clearly not understanding the nuances separating the two.

"Style, for one," Videl answered. "Gohan and I fight differently than Seventeen - and differently from each other, even, since we come from different schools of martial arts. Seventeen is more of a street fighter. Then martial arts is more disciplined and spiritual - hence why Gohan meditates every day with his mentor." She smirked. "Who is also his boyfriend, so I don't honestly know how much meditating they get done."

"Hey!" Gohan said, blushing. "We do actually meditate every night. And I train three times a week, twice with Piccolo and once with Vegeta. I keep busy." He mumbled the last, aware they'd gotten a little off track with Videl's teasing. "I guess that's another difference - training, practice, discipline. Seventeen more just  _fights_ , right?"

"Something like that," Seventeen said with a shrug. It's not like anyone had asked him if he'd wanted to turn from a punk kid into a destructive android.

"So it's like dancing in the club or being a ballerina," Pencal observed.

"Dende, when you put it like that - but you're not  _wrong_ ," Videl said, scandalized. "Don't ever compare me to a ballerina again."

The table laughed, and Gohan felt the tension lessen. He liked Seventeen well enough, and Pencal didn't seem that bad. All in all, college was looking pretty good.


	24. The Windows Don't Open

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As with many college dorms, the windows to Gohan's coveted corner room don't open. For the first time in years, Piccolo's shut out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is totally inspired by my college boyfriend trying to leave me flowers and m&ms outside my window.

Finally. It wasn't that spending time with his friends or fixing what his mother had done to his dorm hadn't been great - well, more the time with friends - but Gohan had been looking forward to his first meditation session in his private dorm room all day. He was also assuming more than just meditation going to happen given the amount of privacy they had, but he'd set up a pair of oversized Papasan chairs in one corner for meditation and was wearing a soft tank top and flannel pajama pants. Then he went to open his window ... And panicked when he found it didn't open. Not even a crack to let air in.

Okay. Okay, this was workable. He'd just have to let Piccolo in the door at the end of the hall, conveniently right by his room. Every night. With everyone except maybe his friends sure that were hooking up nightly ... "I am so moving to an apartment after this semester."

"Why, is there something wrong with this lodging?"

Gohan started, then smiled brilliantly at his teacher. "The window doesn't open, that's what. How did you get in here?"

"You put me on a list of approved visitors, and I got here just in time to be let in. As 'martial arts mentor'."

"Yeah, they're more strict with boyfriends and girlfriends being out on time. I'd forgotten about that list. You're the only one I put on it, not that anyone can stop Dad from visiting, but at least Mom will have to call first." Piccolo looked much less disgruntled now. "Come on, I made us a meditation corner." He'd even hung up a nice wind chime he'd found, even though it wouldn't be feeling any wind.

Piccolo reached up and ran a finger through the chimes, making them sing, then took one of the chairs wordlessly. Gohan folded himself into the other, pleased with his chair selection, and settled into the comfort and familiarity of meditating with Piccolo.

They were interrupted by giggling. "What do you know, they do meditate," Erasa said in that too loud whisper.

Gonna shifts in irritation but didn't open his eyes. "Go away, Erasa. And make sure the door is shut all the way, please?"

Erasa whined but did as she was asked. Gohan had almost expected her to ask to stay, but thankfully her having a boyfriend seemed to be calming her down on the Piccolo front. Quietly, the demi-Saiyan settled back into his meditation.

Once he felt properly centered, Gohan reached mentally  _out_ , feeling for those around him. The steady, solid feel of his mentor beside him was as expected; there were the little flickering feelings of Erasa, Sharpner, and Pencal; Videl's even, higher than average power level - and what was that across the hall? The mystery resident of the other single room had a high, solid ki level, no match for Gohan or Piccolo, but higher by far than even Videl. Whoever it was, they were approaching Yamcha and Krillin's level and were definitely someone to meet.

"I definitely have to introduce myself to whoever lives across the hall tomorrow," he murmured, eyes drifting open.

"Agreed," Piccolo said, his voice clipped and clean. He glanced around the well-organized space, the first one he'd seen that was entirely arranged by his boyfriend. "So this is where you're going to live, at least for the next few months."

"It is." Gohan smiled nervously. "What do you think?"

"It's very ... you," Piccolo said less than perfectly coherent. "Of course I like it."

Gohan's eyes briefly landed on the dorm-issue bed, which had an extra long mattress under the crisp white sheets. It was a solid piece of furniture. Gohan quickly looked away again, blushing heatedly. He definitely was to the point where he fantasized about what they might do in bed - it had taken them long enough to get there! - but he was definitely not to the point where he felt like he could annunciate those half-formed and ill-informed desires to Piccolo.

The glance, however, was not missed by the observant Namekian. Neither was the blush. Reaching out, his clawed fingers brushed over Gohan's ruby cheek, then kissed him gently before glancing pointedly at the bed himself. "Is that what you want?"

Gohan's blush deepened. "No. I mean - not yet. Not - not  _all_ of that. But it might be nice to ... take advantage of a comfortable piece of furniture."

Piccolo huffed in amusement. "It isn't as though I intended to throw you down on the floor. I know this is ... different than what we've been able to do before. And this space is  _yours_ , so it's automatically more," he coughed, "intimate."

"It is," Gohan agreed nervously. This was the most privacy they'd ever had - they'd been kept outside by his mother prior to this - and it was  _Gohan's home_. "Dende, I'm nervous. I know I shouldn't be."

Piccolo stood, offering his hand to Gohan. "Trust me, kid."

That wasn't even a question, not even really an order - just a statement of fact. Of course Gohan trusted Piccolo. With his life, with his heart, with his soul, with his  _everything_. He took the Namekian's hand and stood, letting himself be pulled close for a searing kiss. He responded just as eagerly, his tongue moving against Piccolo's as he found himself being expertly directed across the small room until he felt his legs bump against the bed.

"Tell me, kid - what is it about having a bed available that makes you blush so much?"

"Mostly, the idea of having you _in my bed_ ," Gohan admitted breathily. "Even if we don't do anything new, it's still - my bed. With you in it." His blush reinvigorated itself.

"If I'd known the presence of a bed while we're _together_  was going to affect you like this, I'd have been coming in your window long before this." He smirked, then the expression faltered as he saw his student look distressed. "What's wrong?"

"The window doesn't open. I can't leave it unlocked for you."

With a small chuckle, Piccolo kissed Gohan gently. "I'll still be coming to you, window access or no." He gently nudged Gohan over into his bed. "I'll also be taking advantage of your bed making you blush."

He discarded his turban and cape, then stepped out of his shoes and tucked them beneath the bed and did away with his gi top. Then he moved on top of Gohan, sliding between his legs as he moved to remove the demi-Saiyan's tank top. In a dark whisper, he asked, "Is this what you were imagining?"

" _Gods_ \- _yes_." Gohan arched up towards Piccolo briefly, shifting his legs to cradle the Namekian's larger body between his thighs.

"Tell me what else you want me to do." Piccolo's voice was low and commanding, almost threatening in its intensity. "What do you think about me doing to you?"

Gohan whimpered but met Piccolo's eyes heatedly. "You kiss me a lot. Sometimes they're bloody," he licked his lower lip, "and other times not."

Piccolo kissed him briefly, nipping his lower lip hard and watching Gohan's tongue flick over the droplets of blood. "What else?"

"Your claws - you drag them down my sides hard enough to leave red marks, then tease at the waist of my pants." He was blushing brilliantly, but Piccolo being demanding and acting out his fantasies was too hot to deny over a little embarrassment.

The feel of Piccolo's talons raking slowly down his sides made Gohan gasp and arch in pleasure. When he felt those same claws toying with the waist of his pajama pants, the demi-Saiyan whined again. "Oh Dende, Piccolo -  _fuck_." He was getting hard now, definitely turned on by Piccolo's actions.

His mentor gave his growing erection a curious look, then slowly tugged down Gohan's pajama pants to his knees so that only one thin layer of cloth covered the body part. "This is different than what I have," he said clinically, making Gohan blush.

"Do you - uh, want to see?" He shifted his legs so his feet were on the bed, his knees bent, so he could wiggle the rest of the way out of his pajama pants and kick them off the bed.

Piccolo paused, pondering what he could halfway see through the fabric of Gohan's gray boxer briefs. Then, almost imperceptibly, he nodded.

Shyly, Gohan lowered his gaze, then pulled off his underwear and tossed it off the bed. Then, to show Piccolo it was okay, he grasped one of those large green hands and drew it towards his hardened length.

Curiously, Piccolo stroked the length, exploring tentatively the part of his lover's body that was velvet over steel. Gohan gasped and moaned as the Namekian explored, fondling his balls and stroking his length with a finger and then a closed fist. He leaned in to kiss the demi-Saiyan as he fondled him exploratorily and made his boyfriend cry out. That was shortly followed by spurts of ... something whitish, which Piccolo examined curiously.

"That's different," he said, watching the hardness of Gohan's length fade.

"I - uh - came. Got off." He blushed. "You gave me an orgasm."

"I'm familiar with the concept. Your body just is ... different."

Gohan blushed shyly, then grabbed a couple of tissues and offered one to Piccolo. "I, uh, guess we could go over anatomy instead of just ... fumbling around like we have been."

"What we've been doing is fine. Unless you want to ... go over anatomy."

"No, this is fine," Gohan said quickly, tossing the tissues in the trash. He paused. "I'd like to see what you've got, uh." He glanced down at Piccolo's gi pants. "I honestly don't know what yours is like."

Piccolo hesitated, then nodded. Rising up on his knees, he pulled off his pants and let them join the pile of clothes on the floor.

Gohan's eyes latched onto the view he was being offered for the first time. He'd been aware that Piccolo was hermaphroditic, but he hadn't  _seen_ it before. He had a penis - ridged like the rest of his green skin - something that made Gohan blush as he thought of how that would feel - and had a purple flush at the tip. Underneath his length were folds and a vaginal opening, purplish towards the core.

"Can I blow you?" The words just sort of popped out of Gohan's mouth. Piccolo's response was a blank look. "Ah, oral sex. I'd use my mouth to - make you feel good."

Again the Namekian hesitated, then he nodded again. Gohan pushed him back so that he was leaning back against the wall. Then he settled between his legs and licked his lips before running his tongue up the underside of Piccolo's length. Judging by the grunt that elicited, the mechanics of this part were the same. A few more well-placed licks, and then Gohan drew Piccolo's member into his mouth and started eagerly working his lips and tongue over Piccolo. After a moment's hesitation, he slid a finger into Piccolo's folds as well, stimulating both parts at the same time.

Piccolo was panting in desire as Gohan pleasured him, enjoying the feel of the younger man's mouth on him and first one finger, then two stimulated his female parts. The demi-Saiyan didn't let up, instead of pushing farther with each stroke, trying to get all of his lover's impressive length in his unpracticed mouth. Then, finally - an alien fluid shot into his mouth and Gohan pulled back and wiped his mouth on the back of his hand, then liked the fingers that had Piccolo's feminine flavor on them.

"Well. Was that as good for you as it was for me?" Gohan teased.

The Namekian chuckled briefly. "Yes."

Gohan hesitated, licking his lower lip. "Can you stay tonight? I know you don't sleep but after that ... I'd like you to be here when I wake up."

"Hn." Piccolo smiled secretively at his lover. "I can stay tonight at least. Not every night, though."

"I'll take tonight." They shifted around a little, then Gohan pulled the blanket over both of them without bothering to get their clothes back on. "I love you."

"I know, kid. I love you, too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've hit the point where I'm close enough to the end of the story that I know the bare bones of how I'm going to get to the end ... I'm really excited about it and hope you enjoy the rest of the story!


	25. Stress Relief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gohan's stressed by settling in at college.

Gohan awoke to the feel of clawed fingers running through his hair, the talons lightly scraping against his scalp. His eyes fluttered sleepily open, and he smiled at his lover who had spent the whole night on vigil in his bed. This was a wonderful glimpse of what might be a part of their future - not every night, Piccolo needed his meditation for his own rest, and couldn't give it up inevitably, but sometimes.

The demi-Saiyan cuddled into Piccolo, welcomed by the Namekian's emerald arms. "Good mornin'," he murmured, smiling sweetly at his lover.

"Good morning." The response was gruff, a little uncertain. "It seemed like you slept well."

"I did," Gohan confirmed. "Gods, this hardly seems real." He was waking up in bed with a naked Piccolo, his hand sliding against the varied textures of the other martial artist's green and pink skin. There was more he wanted - so much more - but he didn't want to rush. Dende, he could barely handle what he already  _had_!

"It's definitely real," Piccolo chuckled, his large hand cupping Gohan's cheek. "I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next," he murmured gently, kissing Gohan lightly, his tongue flicking across his lower lip to collect a trace of dried blood. "That clock's set to go off here in a few minutes."

Gohan glanced at the alarm clock and sighed, shifting to turn off the alarm. "This is definitely a better way to wake up than an alarm clock, but I do have to get up. I've got class in half an hour."

"I should go, then," Piccolo said, sitting up. The two of them reluctantly got out of bed, Piccolo pulling back on his clothes while Gohan put last night's laundry into the hamper. With a smirk, Piccolo Clothes Beamed Gohan into tight black jeans, a tank top the same color as his gi, matching high top sneakers, and a black leather jacket, Gohan smiled, pulling his hair back into a tail, then went up onto his toes to kiss Piccolo soundly.

"I'll see you tonight," Gohan said warmly.

"Tonight," Piccolo agreed as Gohan grabbed his bookbag and saw him out the door before settling against the wall by the door of his dorm with a goofy smile on his face.

"You know, as your RA I should be reminding you that you're not supposed to have overnight guests, but I'll let it slide. Mostly because people do it all the time." Gohan looked over to see a tall, muscular boy with black hair and green eyes smirking at him. "Soi."

"Gohan. You're the other martial artist on the hall, other than Videl and I," he said a little dumbly. He was blushing over being caught seeing Piccolo off, but at least Soi seemed to be cool about it. "I sensed you last night when I was meditating."

"And you dropped out of the last Budokai. You and Ma Junior were both there, and neither one of you gave a proper showing."

"Ah, he prefers Piccolo, except for tournaments." Soi raised an eyebrow but didn't push. "Videl was also in the tournament ... she's in there," he said pointing at the appropriate room ... which opened to Videl, dressed in legging an oversized t-shirt. "Hey, 'Del, this is our RA, Soi. He's a martial artist, too."

"Huh," Videl said. "Nice to meet you, Soi, but I've got class right now. And I think you've got some advanced calculus or something ridiculous, right Gohan?"

"Uh, yeah. It's physics but yeah. See you later, Soi."

* * *

They'd had a few weeks to adjust, and the best part of college was that it allowed for increased intimacy with Piccolo, something that Gohan looked forward to but didn't want to force. When it happened it happened and there were plenty of nights where they did nothing but meditate and talk. There were others where Gohan wound up straddling Piccolo in his Papasan chair or the two of them made their way to Gohan's bed either to explore each other or just to cuddle.

Unfortunately, as much as both his social and private lives were thriving, Gohan was struggling for the first time in his life with settling into the school setting. His classes were actually more than half at the proper difficulty for him, so all that studying he'd been forced into since childhood was actually  _necessary_. Not as much as his mom had pushed on him, not every minute, but enough that he was stressed about whether or not he was doing enough, whether or not he was working hard enough to actually pass his classes.

Three and a half weeks into school Piccolo arrived for their nightly meditation session to find Gohan pacing restlessly, his nose in a logic textbook as he ran his hand through his hair absently. Piccolo immediately took his place in his Papasan chair, waiting for Gohan to settle.

It actually took some time for Gohan to realize with a start that his mentor was there. "Oh, sorry Piccolo, it's - class. Classes. Most of them." He tossed the logic text haphazardly on his desk and moved to his chair. "I didn't mean to leave you waiting."

Piccolo paused a moment, then said, "What is it about your classes that's bothering you?"

"I'm in mostly advanced classes, and they're not like the ones in high school," Gohan sighed, tossing his head back over the back of the Papasan chair. "They're actually ... well,  _not easy_. I'm actually being challenged, and I'm just ... not sure that I'm studying enough or working hard enough or any of that. I'm making sure to make time for my friends, and for you, but part of me feels like I should be dropping everything for school." He sighed. "I  _know_ that's Mom's influence, but it still feels like the right thing to do."

For another long moment Piccolo was silent, then he sighed softly. "You're not going to fail any of your classes, kid. Not even if they are challenging. In fact, that's a good thing; that means you're actually learning something. And you've been challenged before and come out on top. You've survived years of extra training with Vegeta, and I know that he's not taking it easy on you. You were an advanced student before you were even old enough to start school. Being in the wilderness for a  _year_ didn't put you behind in your studies - in fact, you were still ahead!" He sighed again, a little louder. "Nothing's going to make you fail as long as you apply yourself, and you're clearly applying yourself." He got up and picked up a couple of books off of Gohan's desk, glancing at the others. "Logic ... physics ... philosophy ... and literature? Didn't you give yourself any sort of a break?"

"Uh, that's what literature is supposed to be."

"Gah! Next semester I'm approving your schedule. You're as bad as your mother." Another pause. "She approved your schedule didn't she."

"Weeeell. Okay, yes! But she wanted me to take six classes, and I'm already on the fast track with all the classes I tested out of, so I didn't see the need to take more than the four I needed to qualify for full-time status."

"Bah. What are you going to do with all of this?"

"Um, become a professor? I was thinking about religion and philosophy, I could teach a class or two about ki and the spiritual aspects of martial arts, but I'm not sure so I took some advanced core classes too in case I wanted to go into math or science."

Piccolo sighed, putting the books back down and leaning in to kiss his student tenderly. "You're working too hard. I have an idea. Tomorrow night after dinner, you're mine."

Gohan blushed. "I like the sound of that. For now, though, let's see if I can manage to meditate."

"My thoughts exactly."


	26. Take Me Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Piccolo has a unique solution to Gohan's stress.

When Gohan answered the knock on his door, he found an amused looking Soi on the other side. The tanned, short-haired young man leaned lazily against the doorframe, looking Gohan over. "You've got Ma Junior - no, it's Piccolo, isn't it - waiting for you in the common area. I think a couple of the girls might be considering eating him alive, and Pencal is about to blow up if Erasa doesn't stop flirting with him. I told him I'd get you."

"Why didn't he just come down himself?" Gohan's brow furrowed.

"Because this is funnier. Come on, get moving."

Slowly, obviously confused, Gohan kicked on his shoes and came out, spotting four people paying attention to a somewhat harried looking Piccolo - three girls, including Erasa who was obviously  _not_ completely over him, and an annoyed looking Pencal. The teen couldn't really blame them; his eyes were drawn straight towards Piccolo as well.

"Oh, wow." Piccolo was wearing a long-sleeved button up in his signature purple, unbuttoned enough to show a hint of collarbone and rolled up tidily to almost the elbow, paired with black pants and shoes. It suited him in a way that Gohan had never thought possible of human clothing, and the demi-Saiyan felt suddenly underdressed. "Gods you look amazing," he said, sliding one hand around the back of the Namekian's neck to kiss him heatedly - but briefly, neither one of them was comfortable with more than the slightest amount of public affection, especially of the more intimate sorts. Piccolo smiled against the kiss, then gently pushed him back down onto his feet.

"Come on," the gruff voice came, leading Gohan out of the dorm building.

"I'm completely underdressed for whatever we're doing," Gohan said as soon as they were alone.

"It's a surprise. I knew you would be," Piccolo said, pausing to Clothes Beam an outfit onto Gohan - a quality navy blue tank top that left his tattoo purposefully exposed, black slacks, and a pair of shoes. Running a large palm over his student's inked shoulder, Piccolo smirked slightly. "That thing's grown on me over the last few years."

"Are you done thinking I'll regret it?" Gohan asked, suddenly feeling wary.

Piccolo looked chagrinned. "I shouldn't have said that. I just couldn't picture where we'd end up." He'd actually at one point been certain Gohan would settle down with Videl, but he'd clearly been far off the mark there. "You obviously knew how you felt better than I did."

"Which is saying something, seeing as I was confused and unsure of everything about how I felt except that I loved you. But that's such an unhelpful phrase, I think ... there are so many different ways to love a person."

"Everyone thought I loved you like a son," Piccolo said awkwardly, "but I never thought of you like that."

"I definitely didn't think of you as any sort of a father," Gohan agreed. "A teacher, a shelter, someone I could go to with anything ... but not a father." Honestly, he couldn't really say any of that except once in a while a teacher about his father ... and his father had taught him after Piccolo. Maybe that was why he'd never thought of Piccolo paternally.

They stood outside together in silence, then Piccolo took his hand. "Come on," he said as the two of them launched into the sky, Piccolo leading Gohan above the city towards their destination.

It was the same club Gohan had come to on his sixteenth birthday. The one that Gohan had been so sure that Piccolo would actually enjoy, given the more subdued atmosphere. Technically Gohan still wasn't old enough to go, but no one asked for identification when he arrived with Piccolo.

The two of them found an out of the way corner booth, settling in next to each other with Piccolo ordering water and Gohan a soda. This was the first place he'd gotten drunk on the night that he'd gotten his tattoo; the demi-Saiyan didn't want that happening again tonight. Especially since this was starting to all come together.

"Piccolo, is this a date?"

"Hn." A purple flush colored his cheeks.

"It is! You decided to surprise me with a date!"

"Watch it, kid," the Namekian snapped in embarrassment.

Gohan raised his hands in surrender, chuckling warmly. "Fine, Fine. It's still nice of you. I appreciate it."

"I thought that it might be good to get your mind off of things," Piccolo mumbled, his ears lowering defensively. He was definitely out of his depth here, but  _he loved Gohan_ , and he'd do anything that he thought was good for Gohan. The kid had clearly been working too hard.

"My mind off things - Piccolo, the only thing that matters tonight is you." He looked across at his lover, biting his lower lip as the drinks were left on their table. Leaning in, the nineteen-year-old pressed his lips to Piccolo's, the kiss brief again as the Namekian made it clear he was still embarrassed by the public display despite their location. "Piccolo, you can relax - no one's paying attention to us." He nodded around at the club, where couples and groups were more engrossed with themselves or other groups of obviously single people than they were interested in an obvious couple.

Piccolo reluctantly relaxed into his seat, picking up his water. He sipped, still awkward, then finally shifted so he could brush his foot against Gohan's ankle. The demi-Saiyan gaped briefly, then covered it by taking a drink of his soda. Footsie with Piccolo was worth any other shyness on the Namekian's part.

Taking Piccolo's hand, Gohan scooted a little closer on the bench. Having moved just close enough that their thighs brushed under the table, Gohan smiled shyly at his mentor. He knew he was pushing things a little bit, but they'd been affectionate on this level for years before they'd become intimate enough to even share chaste kisses. "More what you're comfortable with?" he asked, teasing lightly.

Piccolo snarled, the expression not phasing Gohan at all. This was already shaping up to be one in a series of especially amazing nights that had occurred since he'd started college.

* * *

Late that night, Gohan stumbled in from a mind-numbing kiss goodnight from Piccolo, a ridiculous smile on his face as he made his way back to his dorm room. They'd skipped meditating tonight in order to spend more time on their date, and ultimately Piccolo had loosened up enough for both chaste kisses and even a couple of slow dances at the club. As he went to open his door with exaggerated care - not drunk, just tired and giddy - he heard a laugh from behind him and turned around.

Videl and Soi had taken up vigil inside his opened door, each perched in a chair. They'd apparently been studying together while they waited for Gohan to get home.

"I win," Soi said. "I told you he'd be back before two."

"It's like  _two minutes_ before two," Videl objected, ignoring Gohan and talking to Soi. "Of course, I didn't think they'd be out this late at all. I figured they'd be home before midnight so I lost a couple hours ago."

"Excuse me, I'm right here."

"Oh, we know," 'Del said with a laugh. "Good date?"

"Yes," Gohan said with a dreamy smile. "We went to that club from my sixteenth birthday? Except this time I didn't get drunk. It was  _wonderful_."

"Congrats on your date," Videl said with a small tinge of sadness to her smile. "Now get to bed, you look dead on your feet."

"Mmm, not the first time he's worn me out," Gohan chuckled, turning back to open his door and head into bed. He carefully dealt with the outfit Piccolo had made him, and then crawled into bed in nothing but his boxers.

 


	27. That's What Friends are For

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Late-semester friendly bonding time.

The dates had become a regular thing, and Goten couldn't have been happier. They didn't always go to the club, although Piccolo was becoming more and more comfortable with the quiet venue; sometimes they went for walks, or to museums, or one time recently they'd had an energetic snowball fight that very few people who knew Piccolo would have believed. It was approaching the halfway point of the year, and while Gohan still wanted to move out of the dorm and into an apartment he did enjoy having his friends around this closely. When - if? - he moved, he'd miss them. He could practically hear Piccolo's opinion on the subject.  _You don't have to rush anything, kid._ The tentatively planned move would just afford him a minor convenience, and not one he and Piccolo were really suffering from the lack of. There was only one reason to do it: Gohan liked being able to leave his window unlocked so Piccolo could come in whenever he liked.  _Not that he's had any trouble with access._

The internal back and forth was rather annoying, especially when Gohan was trying to prepare for finals. Sitting out in the common area with his circle of friends, he decided to broach the subject with them. "So, I've been thinking about moving to an apartment over the break."

Soi was the first to speak up, eyebrows lifted above jade eyes. "Why would you want to do that? Unless you're planning on moving your boyfriend in with you, the dorm's a way better choice. Less responsibility, don't have to cook your own food or do anything but keep your room tidy. There are not really many downsides, especially since you've got a single."

"I'm not moving Piccolo in with me -" Gohan started.

"Not that any of us would blame you," Erasa interrupted, and the look Pencal gave her indicated the end was nigh on that front.

"I just don't like that the window doesn't open," Gohan finished, eyeing the blonde girl with slight distaste. How long was her crush on Piccolo going to last?

"... Gohan, were you sneaking Piccolo in your window at home?" Videl asked shrewdly. She glanced up from her books, and Gohan thought he might have caught her giving Soi a once over. Wait - when had that happened?  _Had_ anything happened, or was Videl just looking or ... maybe it was all in his head.

"Sometimes," Gohan confessed after a long, uncomfortable silence with everyone watching him. "For our meditation sessions! And only when Mom was being unreasonable." Videl was the only one that knew the whole story and was obviously sympathetic as a result; everyone else looked at him like they didn't believe it was just for meditation. "Look, my mom didn't like him even before anything - romantic happened."

"Well, you don't need the window to open to have him in your room as often as you like for whatever reasons you like," Soi pointed out. "You two have had no trouble this semester, have you? And it's hardly like you're getting reported for those times he's still here in the morning." Gohan blushed as his friends whooped, except of course for a pouting Erasa. "So what're the actual benefits of moving into an apartment? Where you have to clean your own toilet, I might add."

"Eh, yeah, I hadn't been thinking of it like that." Just paranoidly disliking having his guaranteed entrance for Piccolo cut off. There had been more than a few nights where his mother had refused to let Piccolo in through the front door or others where they'd bypassed her without even trying the door first. He supposed he was still looking at this through the lenses provided by his mother's distrust of his now-lover. He rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, looking at this from a new angle. "I mean, there are definite benefits of staying here, for now," he admitted.

"Like having all of us around," Videl said, sticking her tongue out at him. She, thankfully, was  _long_ over him. He thought. He wasn't the best at reading people in these situations, at least except for Piccolo.

"So stick around through the end of the year, at least," Soi said as he wrote smoothly in his notebook, taking notes with typewriter precision that impressed even Gohan. "It's generally a good idea anyway, and it gives you a while to decide if you're ready for your own apartment, or to share one with someone special." The six foot tall dark-haired young man looked up just long enough to wink a jade eye at Gohan suggestively.

Gohan blushed, looking down at his books to avoid eye contact. He'd really rather not see everyone's expressions at that particular comment. He could hear Sharpner snickering. "Hey, it's not like I'm the only one dating an older guy," Gohan pointed out, looking up and tossing a well-aimed bit of wadded up paper at the long-haired blonde. "Seventeen is way older than Piccolo."

"Yeah, well, Piccolo certainly acts older," Sharpner pointed out. "Seventeen might be about ten years older, but he acts like he's our age. Piccolo acts all sorts of grown up."

"Whatever," Gohan grumbled, getting back to his books. They all had finals to prep for, and some of them more than others since Gohan actually wasn't taking the most classes out of the group.

* * *

There wasn't technically supposed to be alcohol in the dorm, but no one seemed to care the night after finals finished. Gohan was sticking to soda, but the dorm-wide party was still memorable. He wasn't entirely sure why he was there; after all, he didn't  _like_ this sort of party; they were too loud, too filled with overbearing scents, and generally just not pleasant. The last time he'd been to one was the first week of high school, and he'd hated it.

After about half an hour, Gohan caught Videl's eye and nodded towards their hall, then started down to his dorm. He wasn't expecting to be followed by not only 'Del, but Sharpner, Erasa, and Soi. Pencal, it seemed, had dumped Erasa over the course of finals week, but the blonde didn't seem to be overly concerned about the breakup. It must have just been one of those things where they weren't as close as they seemed.

"I should have remembered how much you hate those things," Videl said apologetically, plopping down a purloined bucket of beer, soda, and water bottles.

"Why  _do_ you?" Soi asked, grabbing a beer and cracking it open before settling into Gohan's Papasan chair.

"Uh, sensitive ears and nose," Gohan answered vaguely as he and Sharpner perched on the bed. Videl wound up in Piccolo's chair next to Soi -  _was_ there something there? - and Erasa sat backward in the desk chair. Soi seemed to have taken charge of the bucket and was passing out drinks. "Basically the music's overwhelming, and so is all the cologne and perfume and body spray. It gives me headaches."

"Ah, sensory overload," Soi said with easy confidence. "Don't blame you for getting out of there, then."

Gohan laughed a little nervously, but the party continued on a more subdued level until the door opened and Gohan's friends fell silent. He was the last to let the conversation trail off, and he turned toward the door to smile at Piccolo, the sun bursting from behind the clouds and making Piccolo's breath catch slightly. "Piccolo," Gohan breathed, going to take his mentor by the hand and draw him inside.

"I didn't expect the celebration," he said stiffly, although the Namekian followed willingly enough and easily caught the water Soi tossed him. People shifted, Soi and Videl joining Sharpner on the bed and opening up the Papasan chairs for Piccolo and Gohan to hold court over the group of friends. That old hungry look was still in Erasa's eyes, much to Gohan's annoyance.

"Yeah, the party down the hall is pretty bad, but we're having fun back here," Gohan said warmly, his affection blatantly obvious. "You're going to stay?"

"As long as you want me to, kid," Piccolo said fondly. They sat together in silence, the others barely daring to breathe lest they break some magic spell, but eventually, things relaxed and the party continued until, one by one, people started peeling off to their own rooms, Soi taking the drink bucket except for a handful of sodas and water bottles when he left.

And then they were alone, the door closed firmly behind Sharpner and the hour a little past midnight.


	28. Quiet Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the after-finals party done, Piccolo and Gohan are left alone in Gohan's dorm.

For a long moment, they just sat in silence. With their friends gone off to other pursuits, Gohan and Piccolo had the small room with its trash can full of cans and plastic bottles all to themselves. After a few minutes, Gohan took Piccolo's hand and squeezed gently, shifting a little closer. "Alone at last."

Piccolo chuckled softly, squeezing Gohan's hand in return. "It's late. I should let you get to sleep."

"I'm not tired," Gohan objected, finishing his soda and crumpling the can before tossing it in with the rest. He was going to have to sort that out for recycling in the morning ... "Plus, I don't have to get up for classes tomorrow. Everything's done for the semester."

The Namekian huffed in amusement. "I suppose that's true."

Gohan smiled and shifted to kiss Piccolo softly, his hand sliding around to the back of the Namekian's head. Piccolo's fangs nipped at Gohan's lower lip, making the demi-Saiyan gasp, and he moved from his chair to straddling Piccolo's lap. His sensei's hands went around to grasp Gohan's trim waist, the two of them held close as they continued their passionate kiss. Lips crashing together, they pressed against each other and kissed hungrily, their bodies eager for each other. The kiss grew and changed into something that had grown familiar over the last few months.

They pulled apart, gasping for air, and Gohan pulled his shirt off and tossed it on the floor. At the same time, Piccolo removed his turban and cloak, then let Gohan pull off his gi top. Fair hands stroked over emerald skin with pink patches. Long fingered ones drew dark talons down Gohan's back. Panting, they pulled apart and smiled at each other, Gohan's grin lopsided while Piccolo's smile was soft and secretive.

He always looked like that, and Gohan felt like he was the only one who had the key to all those secrets.

After a long moment of lips and hands and bodies pressing together, Piccolo stood and carried Gohan across to the bed. The demi-Saiyan, his legs wrapped around Piccolo's waist, delighted in the fact that his lover could pick him up and carry him around like this. He was hardly weak himself - in fact, he was stronger than Piccolo, maybe still stronger than anyone - but the illusion that Piccolo could physically take control was something that Gohan found highly desirable.

Settled gently onto his bed, Gohan smiled up at Piccolo and drew his mentor down on top of him. His lips sought Piccolo's again, then his cheek, jaw, ear - they were in tune, in love, and nothing was going to come between them. Not even that stupid fucking window.

Unlike the usual, Piccolo went for Gohan's pants first, stripping his student to his skin underneath him on the bed. There was something very erotic about having Piccolo remove his clothes, even after it had been months since they'd reached this level of intimacy. The teen nipped his boyfriend's neck sharply, sucking hard to leave the most temporary of love bites; Piccolo healed too fast for it to last very long. Still, the Namekian groaned in pleasure, his claws leaving trails of red on the younger man's pale skin as he drew him closer. He was very good at not quite drawing blood - except for when he bit Gohan's lower lip, that almost always was the smallest bit bloody - but that just made the demi-Saiyan want to push his lover over the edge and get him to make him bleed.

His arms going around Piccolo's neck and shoulders while his legs wrapped demandingly around the Namekian's still-clothed waist. Piccolo grunted as Gohan rubbed up against him, forcing his lover back down to the bed before removing his own remaining garments. Then he kissed him, but the demi-Saiyan pulled back under his mentor. Gohan looked up at his lover, dark eyes big as he nibbled his poor abused lower lip. "I want to make love, Piccolo. I want you to take me."

Piccolo snarled in surprise and pulled back, leaning over Gohan with the full length of his arms between them. It wasn't necessarily that he was opposed, thank Dende, and after a few moments of patience, Gohan was prepared to counter his first argument.

"We can't - how would that work, Gohan? You don't have - that part."

So Gohan told him, succinctly, but with as much relevant detail as possible. They'd already fumbled around most of how each other's bodies worked and Gohan would be glad to top for Piccolo as well ... but that large, thick,  _ribbed_ cock was too much to ask the teen to resist. He'd known he wanted this the first time he'd gotten Piccolo naked all those months ago, and his desire hadn't changed in all that time. "And yes," he finished, "I know what I'm getting into. I've wanted this for months." Piccolo was big, Gohan was a virgin. It was going to hurt at first. But Piccolo would do  _anything_ for him; he was sure that included being patient and letting the younger man adjust when they first had sex. "We just have to be careful at first."

Piccolo was silent for a long moment, then nodded. "All right, kid. We can give it a try."


	29. Hold Me Close

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Consummation.

Gohan's face split into a blinding grin and he went up onto his elbows so that he could kiss Piccolo eagerly. He was ready to go,  _now_ , no waiting. Was it weird he'd dared an adult store to buy lube two months ago, just in case fondling and blowjobs turned into something more? He was highly aware that bottle - used once to jerk off, just as an experiment - was in the bedside table right now?

Piccolo pinned him down, however, a slow kiss cooling his eagerness. "I'm not about to just - push myself on you. We're going to take this slow."

The demi-Saiyan whimpered, then sighed. "All right. you're right, we should take it slow." His body relaxed under Piccolo, submitting to the older man's desires. The Namekian _always_ had Gohan's best interests at heart, as annoying as it could be sometimes.

"Now, you said you had the - stuff - already?" Piccolo asked stoically.

"In the bedside table." He blushed. "I already tried it out, uh, on myself. To see what it felt like."

"Probably wise," Piccolo observed with a purple blush to match Gohan's pink cheeks.

Clearing his throat, the blushing demi-Saiyan bit his lower lip gently. "Can we go back to kissing now?"

Piccolo chuckled, pressing a soft kiss to his lover's lips. He kept Gohan lightly pinned, the movement of his lips slow and seeking, writing out the desire he had for him in gentle green flesh against pliant pink. Gohan was eager and responsive, his body pressing up towards Piccolo even as his boyfriend held him down. Their skin brushed together, bringing gasps and gentle moans as they moved together.

One of Piccolo's hands went down to cup Gohan's perky ass, claws barely kissing the pale skin as he pulled the younger man closer. Gohan's muscular leg hooked around his lover's hip and he ground himself against him, making them both gasp in pleasure.

"Slowly," the Namekian's gruff voice reminded.

"What do you think this is?" Gohan huffed in laughter. "Gods, it's torture, Pic. I love you so much and I've been wanting you for so long ... now that I'm sure enough to actually say something about it,  _slow_ is absolute torture."

Piccolo cleared his throat, his cheeks distinctly washed with violet. "Can you at least try not to rush  _me_? I didn't think we were going to do things like this."

Gohan immediately softened. "All right. All right, I'll try to be patient. Even if you make it  _ridiculously_ hard." He leaned up to kiss Piccolo's cheek, then rested his forehead against the Namekian's. For a moment he was contentedly quiet - and then he gasped loudly as the Namekian ran a hand down his tail. "Dende, Piccolo, that's hardly going to make it any easier to slow down!"

With a chuckle, Piccolo kissed Gohan heatedly and continued stroking his tail. "Just because we are taking things slowly does not mean we have to completely come to a halt," Piccolo pointed out, then gasped as Gohan fondled one of his antennae.

Kissing Piccolo heatedly, Gohan sought entry into the other man's mouth, tasting him slowly, then his hands slid down, fondling his chest and abdomen, running over his hips and pulling him down and closer. His legs fell to the sides, inviting the Namekian to rest between his thighs. Slowly, a little shyly, Piccolo followed suit, fondling Gohan's chest and stomach, exploring the lines of his muscles, caressing his thighs, and pressing his lips lovingly to the tattoo on the kid's shoulder. He wanted this ... they both did.

"Where's the, ah, lubricant?"

Fumbling and wrapping his arms around Piccolo's waist, the muscular teen pulled out the bottle of lube then offered it to the Namekian. Splaying green hands with black claws, Piccolo said rather wistfully, he murmured, "You're going to have to apply it." He was fairly sure he should be the one doing this.

"Wha- oh, right!" He'd forgotten about the claws, or at least that they'd  _hurt_ if plunged into his body. "Here," he said awkwardly, squeezing some onto Piccolo's length, "let me see you put that on yourself while I get myself ready."

Piccolo complied with yet another blush, one hand propping himself up so Gohan could watch as the other firmly stroked the lube onto his cock. Gohan bit his lip and moaned, a generous amount of lube on two fingers as he plunged first one into himself than the other, stroking and stretching inside himself in time with the emerald hand Piccolo's thick dick. Fuck, he wanted - he whimpered his desire, picking up the pace of his motions, not too worried about being overly gentle with himself, just with getting to the point where he could take Piccolo's length in his ass.

Finally, unable to take it any more, Gohan pulled his fingers out and wrapped his arms around the Namekian's thick neck to kiss him fiercely. "Please don't make me wait any more. I want that big, amazing cock of yours in my ass  _right now_."

The Namekian chuckled, his free hand going to grasp Gohan hip. He was equally eager but determined to take this at the appropriate pace. "What do I do now?"

"Put it in," Gohan chuckled breathily. "Just ... slowly. Let me have time to adjust." He kissed Piccolo tenderly, then purred contentedly. "You've got a  _lot_ for me to adjust to. Before you ask, yes that's a good thing, and I very much want to feel all of you, so don't be afraid to give me the whole thing."

Piccolo snorted at all the terribly inexact language, but he couldn't seem to pull anything but slang and innuendo out of Gohan when things got more intimate. At least he pretty much knew what Gohan meant by now, at least most of the time. With another passionate kiss for his lover, Piccolo began slowly pushing into Gohan's ass, watching his face for signs of discomfort or, worse yet, openly displayed pain as he stopped every centimeter or two to make sure that things were still going well.

"A little faster, please?" Gohan requested, his lower back raised off the bed as he tried to encourage Piccolo's entrance. It actually hurt less than he'd expected - Sharpner hadn't been shy about sharing the horror story he had about his first time bottoming - and those ribs around the length were  _insane_. "Fuck, Piccolo, your cock's amazing -  _you're_ amazing. I want you so bad."

With a chuckle, one hand still on Gohan's hip, Piccolo brushed a hand over the kid's hair, then kissed him heatedly. "I want you too, Gohan. I just don't want to hurt you." Gohan whimpered, bucking his hips up towards Piccolo's; the Namekian hissed in pleasure and grabbed his student with both hands to hold him tightly and prevent him from moving faster than Piccolo was prepared for. Gohan whined again, hands clawing demandingly at his boyfriend's back. Then, finally, Piccolo slid himself the rest of the way into Gohan and gave the both of them a moment to adjust.

Hips still held torturously still by his lover, Gohan kissed Piccolo as his body strove to fully accept the thick length of ribbed flesh inside him. He wanted this, wanted  _Piccolo_ , and now that he was finally naked underneath his sensei with his mentor's cock  _inside him_ ... "Please? Please show me what you thought of when you imagined us doing this together."

Well, he hadn't precisely - since he was the one with female parts Piccolo had assumed he'd be the one using them - but the blend of Gohan's begging for more and being asked to act out his fantasies on his younger lover was a heady turn on.

Freeing one of Gohan's hips, Piccolo grasped the back of his hair roughly and kissed him demandingly. At the same time as he was biting Gohan's lower lip and pushing his tongue into the boy's mouth, he pulled back and thrust back in completely, letting both of them feel every inch of the other. Gohan moaned, clinging to Piccolo, his back arched as he accepted what Piccolo was giving him and wordlessly asked for more.

They quickly fell into a firm, hungry rhythm, their bodies moving together as Piccolo slowly increased the pace, keeping control of the situation even as Gohan willingly gave it up. It shouldn't be a surprise that Gohan might enjoy this; after all, he'd always been the submissive party in their relationship, for all that Piccolo had completely respected his boundaries. The Namekian slowed slightly at the brief worry that maybe, despite how much he usually was taking cues from Gohan, he might be taking advantage -

Only to have Gohan buck his hips and growl demandingly in response to the slower pace. Right. As if anyone on the planet could make Gohan do anything he didn't want to do.

Piccolo picked up the pace again, dragging Gohan in for a rough kiss, then shifted so that Gohan was straddling his lap. "Show me how much you want my cock," Piccolo growled, blushing at the dirty talk. Gohan moaned, grinning lasciviously, and immediately started riding Piccolo hard. The Namekian growled in pleasure and wrapped a large hand around Gohan's dick, stroking him and causing the demi-Saiyan to toss his head back and groan in delight.

"Gods, Piccolo -!"

It wasn't much longer until they reached completion, the feel of Piccolo climaxing inside him more than enough to tip Gohan over the edge. Kissing each other gently, they collapsed onto the bed. After a while, they took a moment to clean up before Gohan fell asleep in Piccolo's arms.

* * *

"Did you sleep well?"

Even though it had happened off and on over the semester, Gohan still wasn't used to waking up in Piccolo's arms. He smiled warmly, the memory of the night before at the forefront of his mind. "I did. Last night was ... perfect."

"You're sure?" the Namekian asked, eyes searching Gohan's face for any sign they shouldn't have done what they did the night prior.

"Absolutely, positively sure," Gohan confirmed, content as a cat. "I've been planning on spending next semester in the dorms as well, but after that ... maybe we could move in together?"

Piccolo froze, then slowly said, "I suppose I have time to think about it."

"You do. I didn't want to spring it on you last minute. You don't have to have an answer for me until ... well, around my birthday."

"I think I can manage that," Piccolo chuckled. "I love you. I'll think about it."

"I love you, too, Piccolo. Thinking about it is all I ask." He kissed the Namekian on his nose, snuggling in next to his naked body. "I can't believe we finally made love."

Piccolo chuckled. "I can hardly believe you let me."

"Do we have to get up already?"

The Namekian thought about it. "No. In fact, we might even have some time to indulge a little more, since there's nowhere for you to be this morning."

Gohan grinned broadly. "Indulging sounds divine. Now ... what is it you have in mind?"

His grin only grew broader when Piccolo told him.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've actually won and validated at this point but expect the epilogue tomorrow!


	30. In the End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fourteen years later ...

"Son Mandolin, no running in the house!"

The tall eleven-year-old of the Warrior Class took strongly after his father without being an exact clone, and he skidded to a stop at the sound of his Dad's voice. "Sorry, Dad," the young Namekian said, grabbing a bottle of water off the counter. "I'm just excited for everyone coming over."

"It's not  _everyone_ ," Gohan reminded him. There was no family or Z-Fighters coming tonight. "It's just my school friends and their families." It had been a while since they'd all been in one place ... since that night over thirteen years prior when they'd had an apartment warming party for Piccolo and Gohan when they rented their first place together. It took a whole year after that for Gohan to convince Piccolo of matrimony, but it had been wonderful and worth the wait. Then a couple years after that, after Gohan got his first degree on the fast track, they'd decided to have Mandolin ... genetically only Piccolo's, but Gohan loved him all the more for it.

"That's Videl, Sharpner, and Erasa, right? The ones you tell me about every time someone looks at me funny at school." The preteen rolled his eyes, as immune to stories of high school friendship as he was to notations that when his Dad was his age he saved the world.

"Yes, that would be them. I know you're the oldest, but expect you to be nice to all of them, anyway."

"You always say that! When have I ever been mean to any of them?"

"When you were four," his father cut in, voice gruff as ever. "Medon was two, and you pushed him down because he didn't believe the story about your Dad that you repeated to him."

"So? I'm  _eleven_ now!"

"And far younger than I was at eleven," his father observed. Having grown up normally, or close enough, Mandolin had not undergone the painful rapid rise to adulthood that Piccolo had. "You cannot fault parents for parenting."

Gohan leaned in to kiss Piccolo where he was sitting with a glass of water, then smiled at their son. "Go straighten up your room. Everyone should be here soon, and I haven't even  _seen_  Erasa since I graduated and took my job at West City University."

* * *

The bell rang, and Gohan smiled as he opened it on Videl, Soi, and their two sons. All those moments wondering if something was going on and he'd  _still_ been blindsided when Soi had proposed to Videl at his wedding. "How are the boys?"

The children in question were already darting off to find Mandolin. "Well, expect Medon to be on Mandolin's coattails all night; he's determined that he's grown up. He's 'too old to be cute', you know. Domen just wants to be where the fun is, so hopefully, he won't be left out."

"He's not  _that_ much younger than the others, but it must seem like a lot at that age," Gohan said sympathetically. "Mandolin is usually pretty good about making sure people are included after the number of times he got left out at school. I'll make sure he remembers that Domen still wants to play, too."

"I still can't believe you put the grandson of the Demon King in public school," Soi drawled idly.

Gohan flinched. He wasn't sure when they'd worked out that juicy tidbit, but he didn't much like it. "Neither one of them is anything like -"

He was interrupted by Hematite and her twin brother Obsidian darting past him into the house. The eight-year-olds' adoptive parents were right behind, joining the rest of the adults at the door.

"Sharpner, Seventeen, how have you two been?" They claimed to be 'just dating', but the fact that they lived together and had adopted a pair of twins put the lie to the claims of casualness. They just liked having that aura to their relationship. "Come on in, there's no reason to stay in the doorway."

"Good," Sharpner said lazily. "Is Erasa here yet?"

"Not yet - wait, there she is." The short-haired blonde was getting out of her car with a shapely redhead, who she kissed passionately before bringing towards the door of the rural house that Gohan and his family shared. "Looks like she's got a new girlfriend. Let's get this party started."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So to recap, Piccolo and Gohan are 37 and 33 and married; they have one son, 11, Son Mandolin (genetically Piccolo's).
> 
> Videl married Soi, who proposed at the wedding of the above. Their sons are Medon, 9, and Domen, 6.
> 
> Sharpner and Seventeen are still 'just dating' but have adopted twins, 8, Hematite and Obsidian.
> 
> Erasa's still not settled down.
> 
> For reference, Goten and Trunks are 21 and 22.
> 
> \-----------
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this fic; I had a long, interesting month that was pretty hard for me in places but I also managed to win NaNoWriMo for the first time ever - in more than thirteen years! Thanks to all of you who stuck with me on this wild ride!


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